Minerals:

  A mineral ia a naturally occuring substance that has a characteristic chemical compostion and specific physical properties, such as habit and streak .A rock, by comparison is an aggregate of minerals and need not have a specific chemical compostion. Minerals are made up of elements(substances that cannot be broken down chemically into simpler substances), each of which can be represented by a chemical symbol. Minerals can be divided into two groups : native elements are made up of pure element. Examples include gold, silver, copper, and carbon ; carbon occurs as a native element in two forms, diamond and graphite. compounds are combinations of two or more elements. For example, sulphides are compounds of sulphur and are one or more other elements, such as lead in the mineral galena, or antimonv in the mineral stibnite.



Features:
              Minerals can be identified by studying features such as fracture, cleavage, crystal system, habit, hardness colour and streak. Minerals can break in different ways. If a mineral breaks in an regular way, leaving rough surfaces, it possesses fracture. If a mineral breaks along well -defined planes of weakness, it possesses cleavage. Specific minerals have distinctive patterns of cleavage; for example, mica cleaves along one plane. Most minerals form crystals, which can be categorized into crystals systems according to their symmetry and number of faces. within each system, several different but related forms of crystals are possible; for example, a cubic crystal can have six, eight, twelve sides. A mineral's habit is the typical form taken by an aggregate of its crystals. The relative hardness of a mineral may be asssessed by testing its resistance to scratching. This property is usually measured using Mohs scale, which increases in hardness from 1(talc) to 10 (diamond). The colour of a mineral is not dependable guide to its identity as some minerals have a range of colours. streak (the colour the powdered mineral  make when rubbed across an unglazed tile ) is a more reliable indicator.

Mineral Resources:
                            Mineral resources can be defined as naturally occuring substances that can be extracted from the earth and are useful as fuels and raw materials. coal, oil, gas - collectively called fossil fuels - commonly included in this group, but are not strictly minerals, they are of organic origin. Coal formation begins when vegetation is buried and partly decomposed to form peat. Overlying sediments compress the peat and transform it into lignite. As the overlying sediments accumulate, increasing pressure and temperature eventually transform the lignite into bituminous and hard anthracite coals. Oil and gas are usually formed from organic matter that was deposited in marine sediments. Under the effects of heat and pressure, the compressed organic matter under goes complex chemical changes to form oil and gas. The oil and gas percolate upwards through water - saturated, permeable rocks and they may rise to the earth's surface or accumulate below an impermeable layer of rock that has been folded or faulted to form a trap - an anticline trap, for example. Minerals are inorganic substances that may consist of a single chemical element, such as gold, silver, or copper,or combinations of elements. Some minerals are concentrated in mineralrization zones in rock associated with crustal movements or volcanic activity. Others may be found in sediments as placer deposits accumulations of higher - density minerals that have been weathered out of rocks, transported, and deposited on river - beds.