Rocks and Minerals in our Daily Lives

• Fluorite

  Found in....

  • Drinking water
  • Toothpaste
  • Steel Manufacturing
  • Aluminum Products
  • Chemicals
• Copper

  Found in...

  • Wiring
  • Tubing
  • Coins
  • Brass Communications
  • Electronics
  • Appliances
• Talc

  • is an important industrial mineral. Most commonly it is known as the primary ingredient in talcum powder. Its resistance to heat, electricity and acids make it an ideal surface for lab counter tops and electrical switchboards.
• Talc

  Found in....

  Cosmetics

  Baby Powder

  Paint Paper
• Kaolinite

  The greatest demand for Kaolinite is in the paper industry to produce a glossy paper such as is used in most magazines.

  Also, used for the production of cat litter.
• Kaolinite

  Found in...

  • Paper
  • Paint
  • Fertilizer
  • Rubber products
  • PVC pipe
  • Medicine
  • Kaopectate
• Galena

  Found in...

  Batteries

  Fishing tackle

  Lead crystal

  Medical shields

  Ammunition
• Zinc

  • Zinc is the fourth most common metal in use,

  mostly as an anti-corrosion agent.

  • For a metal, zinc has a relatively low melting point and a fairly good conductor of electricity.
• Zinc

  Found in..

  • Galvanized metal

  • Pipe fittings

  • White paint pigment

  • Vitamin supplements

  • American one cent coins

  • Batteries
• Silicon is rarely found in nature in its uncombined form. In fact it is amazing how rare native silicon is with 25.7% of the Earth’s crust being silicon. Silicon, binds strongly with oxygen and is nearly always found as silicon dioxide (Quartz)
• Silica

  Found in...

  • Electronics
  • Computer
  • Industry
  • All types of glass
  • Nail polish
  • Cleaners
  • Ceramics
  • Paint
  • Abrasives
  • Sand blasting
• Gypsum

  Found in....

  • Plasters
  • Wall board
  • Porcelain
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Medicines
  • Soil conditioners
  • Bakery goods
  • Cement
• Gypsum is one of the more common minerals in sedimentary environments. It is a major rock forming mineral that produces massive beds, usually from precipitation out of highly saline waters.
• Hematite

  Found in...

  • Automobiles

  • Ships

  • Appliances

  • Canned goods

  • Vitamins

  • Pigments

  • Nails

  • Cooking utensils

  • communications
• Hematite is an important ore of iron and its blood red color lends itself well in use as a pigment.Hematite

  gets its name from a Greek word meaning blood-like because of the color of its powder.
• Graphite

  -Graphite is a polymorph of the element carbon. Diamond is another polymorph. The two share the same chemistry, carbon, but have very different structures and very different properties.
• *Diamond is the hardest mineral known to man, Graphite is one of the softest.

  *Diamond is an excellent electrical insulator, Graphite is a good conductor of electricity.

  *Diamond is the ultimate abrasive, Graphite is a very good lubricant.
• Graphite

  Found in....

  • Pencil lead Lubricants
  • Bricks
  • Sports equipment (tennis rackets, skis, golf clubs, fishing rods)
  • Aerospace
• Halite, better known as rock salt, can easily be distinguished by its taste.
• Halite

  Found in...

  • Table salt
  • Water softening
  • Drinking water
  • Bleach

  Cloth Chemicals

  Livestock Supplements
• Dolomite

  Found in...

  • Crushed stone for concrete
  • Asphalt paving
  • Roofing shingles
  • Carpet backing
  • Chemicals
  • Medicines
  • Cosmetics
  • Plaster
  • Stucco
• Garnet

  Found in…

  • Fine polishing and grinding
  • Sandpaper
  • Abrasives
  • Gemstones
  • Jewelry
• One of the not-so-common minerals that many of us rely on everyday - that is if we wear glasses the chances are good that lenses may have been polished and ground to the prescribed thickness by a fine garnet compound.
• Magnetite

  Found in...

  • Another major ore of Iron (magnetic)
• Magnetite is a natural magnet, hence the name, giving it a very distinguishing characteristic. Magnetite is a major ore used in the production of iron.
• Bauxite

  Found in....

  • Used in beverage cans

  • Deodorant

  • Spark plugs

  • Windows

  • Doors

  • Gutters

  • Siding

  • Autos

  • Aerospace

  • Bicycles

  • Electronics

  • Communication equipment

  • Lighting
• Bauxite is often thought of as a mineral but is really a rock composed of aluminum oxide and hydroxide minerals such as gibbsite, boehmite and diaspore
• Pumice

  Found in...

  Abrasive in Lava soap
• Pumice is formed from lava that is full of gas. The lava is ejected and shot through the air during an eruption. As the lava hurdles through the air it cools and the gases escape leaving the rock full of holes. Pumice is so light that it actually floats on water. Pumice is ground up and used today in soaps, abrasive cleansers, and also in polishes.
• Coal

  Found in...

  Energy production
• Coal

  Organic sedimentary rocks form from the build up and decay of plant and animal material.

  The bacteria that decay the vegetation need oxygen to survive. Because these decaying layers are buried so fast the bacteria use up what oxygen there is available and can not finish the decomposition of the vegetation