• A mineral occurrence is a concentration of a

LEARN: Ore mineral (usually considered in terms of some

commodity, such as copper, barite, or gold) that

Deposits is considered valuable by someone somewhere

or that is of scientific or technical interest.
• A mineral deposit is a mineral occurrence of
ORE DEPOSITS sufficient size and grade (concentration) to
The process of finding or exploring for a enable extraction under the most favorable
mineral deposit, extracting or mining the conditions.
resource, recovering the resource, also known • An ore deposit is a mineral deposit that has
as beneficiation, and reclaiming the land mined been tested and is known to be of sufficient
can be described as the “life cycle” of a mineral size, grade, and accessibility to be mined at a
deposit. The complete process is time profit. Testing commonly consists of surface
consuming and expensive, requiring the use of mapping and sampling, as well as drilling
modern technology and equipment, and may through the deposit.
take many years to complete.  
Sometimes one entity or company completes The various types of ore deposits differ in
the entire process from discovery to terms of the ore minerals they contain and the
reclamation, but often it requires multiple type of rock body they occur in. Among the
groups with specialized experience working most common types of ore deposits are:
together. Mineral deposits are the source of
many important commodities, such as copper  
and gold, used by our society, but it is
1. Magmatic Ore Deposits - Valuable
important to realize that mineral deposits are
substances are concentrated within an igneous
a nonrenewable resource. Once mined, they
body through magmatic processes
are exhausted, and another source must be
found. New mineral deposits are being 2. Hydrothermal Ore Deposits - concentration
continuously created by the Earth but may take of valuable substances by hot water-rich liquids
millions of years to form. Mineral deposits through fractures and pores in rocks
differ from renewable resources, such as
agricultural and timber products, which may be 3. Sedimentary Ore Deposits - concentrated by
replenished within a few months to several chemical precipitation coming from lakes or
years.  seawater.

  4. Placer Ore Deposits - deposits formed by the

concentration of valuable substances through
There are 2 categories of mineral resources: gravity separation during sedimentary process.
1. Metallic - (materials containing gold, copper, 5. Residual Ore Deposits - results from
aluminum, iron, silver, etc.) accumulation of valuable materials through
chemical weathering processes. 
2. Non-metallic - (building stone, gravel, sand,
gypsum, phosphate, salt, etc.)  
  Ore Deposits in the Philippines
Minerals occur in a range of concentrations, Do you know that Philippines has large
not all of which have economic significance: reserves of various kinds of minerals? In fact,
our country is the fifth richest country in the
world in terms of minerals, such as gold, nickel,
copper, and chromite. The reason for its millions of years, biomass from photosynthetic
abundance is its location along the circum- organisms can create energy-rich fossil fuels
Pacific Rim, where the processes of volcanism through the geologic process of burial and
and plate convergence caused the deposition of transformation through heat and pressure.
both metallic and nonmetallic minerals.
Each of these types of energy can be defined as
Metallic minerals include gold, copper, nickel, renewable or non-renewable. Renewable
chromite, an iron. Benguet, Masbate, Camarines energy sources can be replenished within
Norte, Compostella Valley, Agusan del Sur, and human lifespans. Examples include solar, wind,
Surigao del Norte have large deposits of gold and biomass energy. Non-renewable energy is
and silver. Copper with gold and silver deposits finite and cannot be replenished within a
are found in Benguet, Cebu, Zamboanga del human timescale. Examples include nuclear
Norte, and Nueva Vizcaya. Chromite deposits energy and fossil fuels, which take millions of
are located in Surigao del Norte and Samar. years to form. All energy sources have and
Large deposits of nickel are found in Palawan, some environmental and health cost, and the
Zambales, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del distribution of energy is not equally distributed
Sur, as well as Dinagat Island. Iron deposits are among all
located in Leyte, Bulacan, Camarines Sur, and nations.
Zamboanga.
The nonmetallic minerals include limestone,
marble, gravel and sand, and other quarry
materials. Limestone deposits are found in
Guimaras Island, La Union, and Pangasinan and
the largest marble deposit is found in Romblon
- the marble capital of the Philippine. Cobrador
Island has deposits of rare black, gold, and
green marbles.

LEARN: Earth's
Materials and
Energy Resources
Energy for lighting, heating and cooling our
buildings, manufacturing products, and
powering our transportation systems comes
from a variety of natural sources. The earth’s
core provides geothermal energy. The
gravitational pull of moon and sun create tides.
The sun emits light (electromagnetic radiation),
which creates wind, powers the water
(hydrologic) cycle, and enables photosynthesis.
Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria utilize solar
energy to grow and create biomass that can be
burned and used for biofuels, such as wood,
biodiesel, bioethanol. Over the course of