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What is Sphalerite/Zinc?
What is Sphalerite/Zinc?
Sphalerite
Sphalerite
Yellow, brown, black, red, green, white, or colourless mineral and one of the main ore for zinc. It can also be a crystal/gemstone. Sphalerite is named after the Greek work for ‘mistaken’ because it was often mistaken for galena, but contained no lead.
Zinc
Zinc
Zinc is a blue-grey metallic element with the elemental symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It’s a decent conductor of electricity and is brittle before it becomes malleable at 100ºC. It's also generally non-reactive to air and water, making it a good protector of iron and steel products (through the process of galvanizing).
Uses of Zinc
Uses of Zinc
Fun Facts!
Fun Facts!
While zinc was discovered as an element in 1746, it was already known to ancient Greeks and Romans before 20 BC.
Zinc is a natural insect repellent and sunscreen!
Zinc can store six times more energy per pound than other battery systems, increasing the range of electric vehicles. Zinc-air batteries have powered cars to speeds of 120 mph!
How Sphalerite is Mined
How Sphalerite is Mined
It ranges from open-pit mining to the normal underground methods such as cut-and-fill stoping.
Open-pit Mining
Open-pit Mining
Open-pit mining is a surface mining technique that extracts minerals from an open pit in the ground. This is one of the most common methods of mining in the world and it doesn’t require extractive methods or tunnels. This technique is used when mineral/ore deposits are generally close to the surface of the Earth.
Cut-and-fill Stoping
Cut-and-fill Stoping
Cut and fill stoping is a method of underground mining used in vertical stopes and in mining high-grade irregular ore bodies.
Location Top Global Producers of Zinc
Location Top Global Producers of Zinc
Zinc Mines in Canada
Zinc Mines in Canada
The information used for this map was from 2018. Some of these mines may have shut down or new ones could have opened up since then.
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