I had a lot of trouble to find easy and clear definitions for MINERAL and ORE.How are they alike and how are they different from each other?
An ore is a mineral that can be refined into metal.
Okay, minerals and ores are different from one another but they are related in some ways. Minerals are naturally occurring, and so are ores. But the difference is that mineral's are inorganic solids that have crystalline structures, and most of them have chemical formulas that are unique to that specific mineral(there are some exceptions though). Ore's on the other hand are CONCENTRATIONS of minerals inside rocks. Basically, minerals are formed naturally when different chemicals react with one another, and in turn when enough of SOME of those minerals accumulate in large concentrations known as deposits(like gold and iron), then it's called an ore. In the case of iron ore, even though iron is an element, it is an ore because of the impurities it has in it. Essentially, chemicals reacting naturally minerals, and a large amount of one mineral in a big concentration in one are ores.
