Ore
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Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. Ore
Manganese ore – psilomelane (size: 6.7 × 5.8 × 5.1 cm)
Lead ore – galena and anglesite (size: 4.8 × 4.0 × 3.0 cm)
Granitic pegmatite composed of plagioclase and K-feldspar, large hornblende crystal present. Scale bar is 5.0 cm
Piece of kimberlite. 11.1 cm x 4.5 cm
Rare-earth element
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The rare-earth elements, also called rare-earth metals, or rare earths, are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. The 15 lanthanides, along with scandium, and
Rare-earth ore (shown with a 19 mm diameter US 1 cent coin for size comparison)
Refined rare-earth oxides are heavy, gritty powders usually brown or black, but can be lighter colors as shown here. Back row: gadolinium · praseodymium · cerium Middle row: samarium · lanthanum Front: neodymium
A false-color satellite image of the Bayan Obo Mining District, 2006