Question

From where are the minerals extracted?

Answer 1

Hint: Minerals are the solid substances that are present in nature and can be extracted from the earth through methods that are economically viable. These methods are majorly the three processes: 1) Mining 2) Drilling 3) Quarrying. All these methods, speaking broadly, help in the extraction of minerals from the earth’s surface or from beneath the earth’s surface.

Complete answer: Minerals are the solid substances which may, or may not be formed from the single element. They can either be made of a single element or may be more than one element combined together. These types of minerals are called mineral compounds. Minerals are extracted from the earth’s surface or beneath the earth’s surface. However, the layer from which they are extracted is called crust. Minerals are extracted majorly by three processes:
1) Mining: It is the process of extraction of mineral ore from the earth’s surface, majorly by the process of digging. The places where this process of mining is carried out are termed as mines.
2) Drilling: Drilling is the process in which the ground surface is penetrated with the help of drilling machinery and rocks and minerals are extracted from beneath the earth’s surface. This process is used to carry out extraction of minerals from beneath the earth’s surface.
3) Quarrying: It is the process of removing the soil, sand, gravel and then eventually rocks from a particular area or region and then using these rocks to extract minerals from them.

Note:
Although it is said that our earth is full of minerals, it should be kept in mind that the minerals that we extract are found on the crust of the earth only. The heat at the mantle and core becomes so high that it is practically impossible to carry out this extraction of minerals with the known technology and methods.