Scandium — principal ore and typical extraction route

Thortveitite; recovered from rare-earth ores/byproduct streams and isolated by ion-exchange/hydrometallurgy

Bauxite; Kroll reduction of TiCl4

Sphalerite; roast then electrolysis

Hematite; blast-furnace reduction with coke

Titanium — principal ores and canonical industrial extraction method

Ilmenite/rutile; Kroll process (TiCl4 reduced with Mg or Na)

Chromite; smelting to ferrochrome

Pyrolusite; reduction with carbon to ferromanganese

Vanadium — principal ore/mineral source and common extraction route

Vanadinite or vanadium-bearing magnetite; recovered via roasting and conversion to soluble vanadates then reduction/hydrometallurgy

Pentlandite; Mond carbonyl purification

Chalcopyrite; flotation and direct electrorefining

Cassiterite; smelting to tin metal

Chromium — principal ore and standard industrial extraction method

Chromite; smelting (carbothermic reduction) to produce ferrochrome

Laterite; Bayer process and Hall–Héroult electrolysis

Sphalerite; roasting and electrowinning

Bauxite; chlorination and Kroll reduction

Manganese — principal ore and conventional extraction method

Pyrolusite (MnO2); carbothermic reduction to ferromanganese (or hydrometallurgical processing/electrolytic routes)

Magnetite; blast-furnace ironmaking

Cobaltite; hydrometallurgical leaching and precipitation

Rutile; Kroll reduction of TiCl4

Iron — principal ores and canonical extraction process

Hematite/magnetite; blast-furnace reduction with coke

Pentlandite; Mond carbonyl process

Sphalerite; roast to oxide then electrolysis

Cobalt — main mineral sources and typical industrial recovery method

Cobaltite and as a byproduct of nickel/copper sulfide ores; recovered by flotation then hydrometallurgical leaching and solvent extraction/electrowinning

Cassiterite; smelting with coal

Bauxite; precipitation (Bayer) then electrolytic reduction

Nickel — principal ores and usual extraction/processing approach

Pentlandite (sulfide) and lateritic ores; sulfides: roasting/smelting and refining, laterites: pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy (pressure leaching)

Chromite; smelting to ferrochrome

Pyrolusite; direct electrolysis

Copper — dominant ore and canonical extraction route

Chalcopyrite; concentration (flotation) then smelting/refining (or hydrometallurgy for oxide ores)

Sphalerite; roast to oxide then electrowinning

Hematite; blast-furnace ironmaking

Zinc — principal ore and standard industrial extraction method

Sphalerite (zinc sulfide); roast to oxide then reduction/electrolytic electrowinning from sulfate solution

Bauxite; Bayer process followed by Hall–Héroult

Vanadinite; conversion to vanadium pentoxide then reduction

Pyrolusite; carbothermic reduction to metal

Trivia · Knowledge

Extraction, Ore Sources, and Mining Origins (Sc–Zn)

Ten questions: pick the principal ore (or mineral source) and the canonical industrial extraction method for each element from scandium (Sc) through zinc (Zn).0 takes

by @triviagang_dataUpdated 2d ago

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