- SITUATION:
Australia is a country with a vast wealth of mineral resources. The relative abundance and ease of extraction of metals influences their value and the way they are used in the community. Decisions about how to use resources are based on economic factors as well as scientific factors. You, as a consumer, need to understand how these decisions are made and why it is sometimes more cost effective to recycle rather than continue to mine.
TASK:
You are required to research the extraction of metals from their ores and the processes involved in recycling aluminium. Write a report which includes the following information:
Minerals and Ores
Define the terms Mineral and Ore. (2 marks)
Explain why ores are non-renewable resources (2 marks)
Extracting Metals from Ores
Describe the separation of copper from one of its ores, referring to –
How the process is carried out (2 marks)
Chemical reactions involved – provide relevant equations (2 marks)
Energy considerations (1 mark)
Discuss the importance of predicting yield in the identification, mining and extraction of commercial ore deposits (3 marks)
Describe the relationship between the commercial price of common metals, their actual abundances and relative costs of production (3 marks)
Aluminium – should we recycle or continue to mine more?
Identify and explain the main problem with extracting aluminium from its ore (3 marks)
What options are there for solving this problem? (2 marks)
Outline the steps taken to recycle aluminium (2 marks)
Analyse information to compare the cost and energy expenditure involved in the extraction of aluminium from its ore and the recycling of aluminium (4 marks)
Justify the increased recycling of metals in our society and across the world (4 marks)
Include a bibliography with all references correctly cited.
Word length - 2000 words
