Читать книгу Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes - Laurence Robb - Страница 35

The bulk of the Earth's crust and mantle is made up of silicate minerals that can be subdivided into several mineral series based on the structure and coordination of the tetrahedral anionic group. Silicate minerals are generally hard, refractory, and translucent. Most of them cannot be regarded as ore minerals in that they do not represent the extractable part of an ore body, and the list provided below shows only some of the silicates more commonly associated with mineral occurrences as gangue or alteration products. Some silicate minerals, such as zircon and spodumene, are ore minerals and represent important sources of metals such as zirconium and lithium, respectively. Others, such as kaolinite, are mined for their intrinsic properties (i.e. as a clay for the ceramics industry).