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The activities of the mining industry begin with exploration. Mining industry
commonly includes such functions as exploration, mineral separation,
hydrometallurgy, electrolytic reduction, and smelting and refining. After
suitable deposits have been found and their worth proved, development, or
preparation for mining is necessary.
Mining companies must periodically find new deposits.
A unique feature of
mining is the circumstance that mineral deposits undergoing extraction are
“wasting assets,” meaning that they are not renewable as are other natural
resources. Depletion means that the supplies of any particular mineral must
be drawn from ever-lower-grade sources.
There are many types of mining operations.
They range from precious
metals, such as gold to other metals, and to minerals such as asbestos, sand,
granite, and iron ore. Nonmetal mining can take many forms, including coal
mining, which supplies much of the world's energy, and the mining of other
materials such as clay, diamonds, semiprecious stones, and related
substances.
(The above information was adapted from http://www.Wikipedia)
Writing
You complete the summary by writing no more than three words and \ or a
number from the passage in each gap. The summary may cover the ideas in
the whole passage or may be based on a section of the passage only.
Read the following texts: Reading Bank, pg. 80-81
Then refer to Writing Bank, pg. 98
Speaking
Assessing explanations
A good way to prepare for presenting information to others is to practice in
small groups first.
1. Work in groups.
Group 1 Go to Reading Bank, pg. 80 (Underground mining)
Group 2 Go to Reading Bank, pg. 81 (Surface mining)
Group 3 Go the Reading Bank, pg.81 (Dredging)
Within each group there are three students A, B and C.