Question

Minerals from which metals can be profitably extracted are called:
(A) Ores
(B) Source
(C) Alloy
(D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: A rock or a natural sediment which contains valuable minerals from which metals can be extracted are called ores. The place of their origin is called source and an alloy is a mixture of 2 or more metals together.

Complete Step by Step Answer
A mineral can be defined in terms of mineralogy as solid chemical compounds with fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure. The silicate minerals comprise almost 90% of the Earth’s Crust. Other important minerals include the native elements, sulphides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulphates, and phosphates.
A rock is an aggregation of one or more minerals. Some rocks such as limestone or quartzite are composed primarily of one mineral- calcite or aragonite in case of the prior and quartz in case of the latter.
Ores are those minerals that have high concentration of a certain element, typically a metal. Example, cinnabar, $ \text{HgS} $ , which is an ore of mercury, sphalerite or Zinc Sulphide $ \left( \text{ZnS} \right) $ , cassiterite or $ \text{Sn}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}} $ , which is an ore of tin. These minerals are valuable because the elements that are present in these ores are extracted from them for other use. So the correct answer is option A, Minerals from which metals can be profitably extracted are called: Ores.

Notes
Gems are those minerals that have ornamental value and are distinguished from the non-gems by their beauty, durability, and usually rarity. There are about 2of species of minerals that are valued as gems and constitute about 35 of the commonly known gemstones.