Gypsum, Salt, Potash and Coal

These materials mentioned happen in bedded deposits in sedimentary rocks. These materials are not considered to be ores; instead, they are extracted and used as is. Gypsum, salt and potash are what remain when sea water evaporates in shallow, not very deep basins. Coal is formed from plant material that has decayed; due to this is why we call it “fossil fuel”. All of these deposits have a tabular shape.

Laterite Deposits
When under tropical coditions, fresh rock weathers much too quickly and in immense depths. the rocks which are in tropical climates weather to form laterite. Laterite is a soft, deeply weathered mixture of hidroxide and oxide clays and minerals. Some metals may be leached away by the weathering process, but others, for example aluminum, nickel and iron can remain as silicates or oxides. Laterites produce virtually all of the world’s aluminum ore, and lateritic nickel deposits are a sigificant source of that metal.

Iron Formations
Iron oxides, carbonates, silicates and sulphides most of the time form as chemical sediments on the sea floor. The iron minerals can be of a sufficiently high grade and have well enough metallurgical quality to be appropriate for the making of steel. The most useful minerals are the oxide iron ores, hematite and magnetite, but iron carbonates can also be shipped as iron ore. Due to the fact that the deposits are primary sedimentary beds, their shape is most of the time tabular.