Mineral resource : It is the source of any material in earth's crust. The source from which there is opportunity of extraction of the material.
Mineral reserve : The mineral resource from which a material can be extracted by means of economic techniques. The ores of metals are generally considered to be mineral reserve.
The mineral resource can be any source of mineral found in the earth’s crust but mineral reserve is that from which minerals can be extracted economically and profitably.
Further Explanation:
The naturally occurring substances that are present in the earth’s crust are called minerals. These are the basic materials in daily life and have many wide applications in agriculture, food, construction, transport, and technology. Quartz, calcite, and mica are some examples of minerals.
The source of minerals in the earth’s crust that may or may not exceed the cost to obtain valuable minerals is known as mineral resources. There are two main types of mineral resources, namely metallic and non-metallic mineral resources.
Metallic mineral resources
These are the resources that contain one or more metals. Their occurrence is quite rare in nature. Iron, gold, bauxite, and copper are examples of metallic minerals.
Nonmetallic mineral resources
These are the minerals that cannot form new products upon melting. These are basically used for the production of glass, ceramics, cement and lime products. Sand, clay, marble, and gravel are examples of nonmetallic minerals.
Mineral reserves are those sources that can be mined profitably with the use of recent technologies. These can either be probable or be proven. Any reserve is said to be probable when the economic extraction of the mineral can be justified and is called proven if the economic extraction has already been justified.
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Answer Details:
Grade: Senior School
Chapter: General principles of isolation of elements
Subject: Chemistry
Keywords: minerals, mineral resources, mineral reserves, economic extraction, glass, ceramics, metallic, non-metallic, probable, proven.
