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Contents of 2.7 What are the most important minerals?

2.7 What are the most important minerals?

• Abundance does not necessarily relate to importance
• ~4,000 known minerals
• A few dozen are common at Earth's surface: the "rock-forming minerals"
• Some minerals used "as found"
• Others contain useful elements: ore minerals
• Iron, lead, aluminum, chromium - most metals occur as mineral compounds that must be chemically separated