Mineral deposit | Definition, Examples, & Facts

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btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <main> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <div id="content" class="md-content"> <div class="md-article-container template-desktop infinite-pagination"> <div class="infinite-scroll-container article last"> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content md-expanded" data-topic-id="383726"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mineral-deposit">mineral deposit</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/science/mineral-deposit">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref82165"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit#ref82165">Geochemically abundant and scarce metals</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref82166"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit#ref82166">Ore minerals</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82167"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Native-metals">Native metals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82168"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Native-metals#ref82168">Sulfides</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82169"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Oxides-and-hydroxides">Oxides and hydroxides</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82170"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Oxides-and-hydroxides#ref82170">Carbonates and silicates</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref82171"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Formation-of-mineral-deposits">Formation of mineral deposits</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82172"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Formation-of-mineral-deposits#ref82172">Magmatic concentration</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82173"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Formation-of-mineral-deposits#ref82173">Pegmatite deposits</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82174"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Formation-of-mineral-deposits#ref82174">Carbonatite deposits</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82175"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Magmatic-cumulates">Magmatic cumulates</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82176"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Immiscible-melts">Immiscible melts</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82177"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Hydrothermal-solution">Hydrothermal solution</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82178"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Hydrothermal-solution#ref82178">Veins</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82179"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Hydrothermal-solution#ref82179">Porphyry deposits</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82180"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Hydrothermal-solution#ref82180">Skarns</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82181"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Hydrothermal-solution#ref82181">Volcanogenic massive sulfides</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82182"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Mississippi-Valley-type">Mississippi Valley type</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82183"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Mississippi-Valley-type#ref82183">Stratiform deposits</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82184"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Mississippi-Valley-type#ref82184">Groundwater</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82185"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Roll-front-deposits">Roll-front deposits</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82186"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Roll-front-deposits#ref82186">Caliche deposits</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82187"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Roll-front-deposits#ref82187">Seawater or lake water</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82188"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Iron-deposits">Iron deposits</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82189"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Iron-deposits#ref82189">Manganese deposits</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82190"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Rainwater">Rainwater</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82191"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Rainwater#ref82191">Laterites</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82192"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Rainwater#ref82192">Secondary enrichment</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref82193"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Flowing-surface-water">Flowing surface water</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82194"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Flowing-surface-water#ref82194">Alluvial placers</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref82195"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Flowing-surface-water#ref82195">Beach placers</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref82196"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/science/mineral-deposit/Flowing-surface-water#ref82196">Metallogenic provinces and epochs</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mineral-deposit/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/mineral-deposit">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mineral-deposit/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/1519-004-FD87ACF9/relationship-springs-veins.jpg" data-href="/media/1/383726/1511" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/1519-004-FD87ACF9/relationship-springs-veins.jpg" alt="hot springs and epithermal veins" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/151096-004-E52BBF62/Porphyry.jpg" data-href="/media/1/383726/173435" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/151096-004-E52BBF62/Porphyry.jpg" alt="porphyry" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/22/1522-004-87015467/drawing-porphyry-copper-deposit-body-relationship-volcano.jpg" data-href="/media/1/383726/1512" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/22/1522-004-87015467/drawing-porphyry-copper-deposit-body-relationship-volcano.jpg" alt="porphyry copper deposit" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/24/1524-004-49A97279/relationship-edges-deposits-basins-Mississippi-Valley-flow.jpg" data-href="/media/1/383726/1513" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/24/1524-004-49A97279/relationship-edges-deposits-basins-Mississippi-Valley-flow.jpg" alt="Mississippi Valley-type deposits" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/1525-004-D7F4FDA1/weathering-nickel-nickeliferous-peridotite-substitution-mineral-garnierite.jpg" data-href="/media/1/383726/1514" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/1525-004-D7F4FDA1/weathering-nickel-nickeliferous-peridotite-substitution-mineral-garnierite.jpg" alt="lateritic weathering" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/1526-004-B5FD325C/minerals-weather-vein-deposit-mass-wasting-water-stream.jpg" data-href="/media/1/383726/1515" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/1526-004-B5FD325C/minerals-weather-vein-deposit-mass-wasting-water-stream.jpg" alt="chemically resistant minerals" height="50" /> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Previous"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" 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The term <em>metal</em>, however, is reserved for those chemical elements that possess two or more of the characteristic physical properties of metals (opacity, ductility, malleability, fusibility) and are also good conductors of heat and electricity. Approximately 40 metals are made available through the mining and smelting of the <span id="ref624172"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mineral-chemical-compound" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">minerals</a> in which they occur.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Certain kinds of mineral can be smelted more readily than others; these are commonly referred to as <span id="ref624173"></span>ore minerals. Ore minerals tend to be concentrated in small, localized <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/rock-geology" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">rock</a> masses that form as a result of special geologic processes, and such local concentrations are called mineral deposits. Mineral deposits are what prospectors seek. The terms <em>ore mineral</em> and <em>mineral deposit</em> were originally applied only to minerals and deposits from which metals are recovered, but present usage includes a few nonmetallic minerals, such as barite and fluorite, that are found in the same kinds of deposit as metallic minerals.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">No deposit consists entirely of a single ore mineral. There are always admixtures of valueless minerals, collectively called <span id="ref624174"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/gangue" class="md-crosslink ">gangue</a>. The more concentrated an ore mineral, the more valuable the mineral deposit. For every mineral deposit there is a set of conditions, such as the level of concentration and the size of the deposit, that must be reached if the deposit is to be worked at a profit. A mineral deposit that is sufficiently rich to be worked at a profit is called an <span id="ref624175"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ore-deposit" class="md-crosslink ">ore deposit</a>, and in an ore deposit the assemblage of ore minerals plus gangue is called the <span id="ref624176"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ore-mining" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ore</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">All ore deposits are mineral deposits, but the reverse is not true. <em>Ore deposit</em> is an economic term, while <em>mineral deposit</em> is a geologic term. Whether a given mineral deposit is also an ore deposit depends on many factors other than the level of concentration and the size of the deposit; all factors that affect the mining, processing, and transporting of the ore must be considered as well. Among such factors are the shape of a deposit, its depth below the surface, its geographic remoteness, access to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="transportation" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/transportation" data-type="EB">transportation</a>, the political stability of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/region-geography" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">region</a>, and market factors such as the price of the metal in world trade and the costs of borrowing the money needed to develop a mine. Because market factors change continually, a given mineral deposit may sometimes be an ore deposit, but at other times it may be uneconomic and hence not an ore deposit.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Mineral deposits have been found both in <span id="ref624177"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/rock-geology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">rocks</a> that lie beneath the oceans and in rocks that form the continents, although the only deposits that actually have been mined are in the continental rocks. (The mining of ocean deposits lies in the future.) The <span id="ref624178"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/continental-crust" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">continental crust</a> averages 35–40 kilometres (20–25 miles) in thickness, and below the crust lies the <span id="ref624179"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Earths-mantle" class="md-crosslink ">mantle</a>. Mineral deposits may occur in the mantle, but with present technology it is not possible to discover them.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref82165"> <h2 class="h1">Geochemically abundant and scarce metals</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Metals used in industrial and technological applications can be divided into two classes on the basis of their <span id="ref624180"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/abundance-of-the-elements" class="md-crosslink ">abundance</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Earth" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Earth’s</a> crust. The geochemically abundant metals, of which there are five (aluminum, iron, magnesium, manganese, and titanium), <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constitute" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitute" data-type="MW">constitute</a> more than 0.1 percent by weight of Earth’s crust, while the geochemically scarce metals, which embrace all other metals (including such familiar ones as copper, lead, zinc, gold, and silver), constitute less than 0.1 percent. In almost every rock, at least tiny amounts of all metals can be detected by sensitive <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/chemical-analysis" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">chemical analysis</a>. However, there are important differences in the way the abundant and scarce metals occur in common rocks. Geochemically abundant metals tend to be present as essential <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituents" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituents" data-type="MW">constituents</a> in minerals. For example, <span id="ref624181"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/basalt" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">basalt</a>, a common <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/igneous-rock" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">igneous rock</a>, consists largely of the minerals olivine and pyroxene (both magnesium-iron silicates), feldspar (sodium-calcium-aluminum silicate), and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ilmenite" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">ilmenite</a> (iron-titanium oxide). Careful chemical analysis of a basalt will reveal the presence of most of the geochemically scarce metals too, but no amount of searching will reveal minerals in which one or more of the scarce metals is an essential <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituent" data-type="MW">constituent</a>.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Geochemically scarce metals rarely form minerals in common rocks. Instead, they are carried in the structures of common rock-forming minerals (most of them silicates) through the process of atomic <span id="ref624182"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/substitutional-solid-solution" class="md-crosslink ">substitution</a>. This process involves the random replacement of an atom in a mineral by a foreign atom of similar ionic radius and valence, without changing the atomic packing of the host mineral. Atoms of copper, zinc, and nickel, for example, can substitute for iron and magnesium atoms in olivine and pyroxene. However, since substitution of foreign atoms produces strains in an atomic packing, there are limits to this process, as determined by temperature, pressure, and various chemical <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="parameters" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parameters" data-type="MW">parameters</a>. Indeed, the substitution limits for most scarce metals in common silicate minerals are low—in many cases only a few hundred substituting atoms for every million host atoms—but even these limits are rarely exceeded in common rocks.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">One important consequence that derives from the way abundant and scarce metals occur in common rocks is that ore minerals of abundant metals can be found in many common rocks, while ore minerals of scarce metals can be found only where some special, restricted geologic process has formed localized enrichments that <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="exceed" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/exceed" data-type="EB">exceed</a> the limits of atomic substitution.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> </section> <span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref82166"> <h2 class="h1"><span id="ref624183"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/beneficiation-ore-treatment" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ore minerals</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Two factors determine whether a given mineral is suitable to be an ore mineral. The first is the ease with which a mineral can be separated from the gangue and concentrated for smelting. Concentrating processes, which are based on the physical properties of the mineral, include magnetic separation, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/gravity-physics" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">gravity</a> separation, and flotation. The second factor is <span id="ref624184"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/smelting" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">smelting</a>—that is, releasing the metal from the other elements to which it is chemically bonded in the mineral. Smelting processes are discussed below, but of primary importance in this <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="consideration" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/consideration" data-type="EB">consideration</a> of the suitability of an ore mineral is the amount of energy needed to break the chemical bonds and release the metal. In general, less energy is needed to smelt sulfide, oxide, or hydroxide minerals than is required to smelt a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/silicate-mineral" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">silicate mineral</a>. For this reason, few silicate minerals are ore minerals. Because the great bulk of Earth’s crust (about 95 percent) is composed of silicate minerals, sulfide, oxide, and hydroxide ore minerals are at best only minor constituents of Earth’s crust—and in many cases they are very rare constituents.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The preferred ore minerals of both geochemically abundant and geochemically scarce metals are native metals, sulfides, oxides, hydroxides, or carbonates. In a few cases, silicate minerals have to be used as ore minerals because the metals either do not form more desirable minerals or form desirable minerals that rarely occur in large deposits.</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span> </section><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":12,"pageId":383726,"pageLength":1130,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.38"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.38' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Mineral deposit | Definition, Examples, & Facts | Britannica