Lesson 3.2.5.5

3.2.5.5 Mineral security Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 3.2.5.5, Mineral security: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 2: Human geography, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. Iron ore is primarily used to make:

    • Steel
    • Plastic bottles
    • Glass for windows
    • Aluminium foil

  2. Copper is widely used in the global economy mainly because it is:

    • A cheap alloy used mainly for cooking utensils
    • A fuel that is burnt in power stations
    • A material that is too brittle to be shaped into wire
    • A good electrical conductor used in wiring and electronic components

  3. Tin is important in global industry, for example in:

    • Fuel for aircraft engines
    • Concrete for building foundations
    • Bricks for house construction
    • Solder for electronics and tinplate for food cans

  4. Manganese is mainly important to the global steel industry because it is:

    • A gas that is released from steel mills
    • A fuel that powers blast furnaces
    • Used as an alloying element that improves the strength and hardness of steel
    • A substitute for the carbon in steel

  5. Which key aspect of physical geography is most associated with the occurrence of ore minerals?

    • Geological conditions that concentrate minerals, such as ore-forming igneous and hydrothermal processes
    • The height of trees in tropical forests
    • The temperature of the sea in shallow coastal water
    • The average annual rainfall of a region only

  6. Which environmental impact is most typically associated with a major mineral extraction scheme?

    • Reduction in local water pollution
    • Permanent enhancement of local biodiversity
    • Increased soil fertility across the mining site
    • Habitat loss, land disturbance and water pollution from tailings or drainage

  7. Which sustainability strategy is most relevant to mineral ore extraction?

    • Increasing the number of mines with no recycling, since adding new sites while ignoring reuse is the quickest way to expand output
    • Ignoring demand for metals because deposits are plentiful, since reserves are assumed to be large enough to meet any future need
    • Recycling of metals and reducing the demand for newly mined ore
    • Discarding all metal products after a single use, which keeps every item in circulation only once before it is thrown away

  8. A metal ore has a grade of 2% and a mine processes 1 million tonnes of ore. How much metal is contained in the ore?

    • 200,000 tonnes
    • 50,000 tonnes
    • 2,000 tonnes
    • 20,000 tonnes

  9. Which argument best evaluates the global commerce of a specified ore such as copper?

    • Copper trade has no effect on any national economy, because its price is set in local markets and never moves beyond the producing country
    • Copper is never used in manufacturing or infrastructure, because it has no role in wiring, pipes or any other industrial product
    • Copper trade is confined to a single small country, since only one state mines the metal and sells it to a few local buyers
    • Its trade links producers and manufacturers, so price changes and supply disruptions can affect many economies

  10. Which feature of ore demand is most typical of industrial economies?

    • Demand mainly for metals used in subsistence farming, where small hand tools account for almost all consumption in rural areas
    • Demand is zero because industries use only recycled plastics, which have replaced every metal across manufacturing in recent decades
    • Demand limited to decorative metals in jewellery alone, with every industrial process using plastics and ceramics instead of metal
    • Large demand for metals used in construction, transport and electronics

  11. Which sustainability issue is most linked to processing iron ore into steel?

    • Acid rain from the use of solar panels, since the manufacture and installation of panels releases sulphur gases into the air each year
    • Energy use and emissions from smelting and high-temperature processes
    • Nuclear waste from the production of steel, which is generated in the furnaces and must be stored in secure containers for centuries
    • Ozone depletion caused by the manufacture of glass, because the chemicals used in glass production destroy the stratospheric ozone layer

  12. A copper mine is closed and its tailings are left unmanaged near a river. What is the most likely consequence?

    • Improved river water quality as metals settle out harmlessly, since heavy metals sink to the bed and leave the water clearer for fish
    • No effect on the river because tailings are inert, so the material remains stable in place and never reaches any water body nearby
    • Contamination of the river and surrounding land by metals and acidic drainage
    • Permanent increase in fish populations because of metal inputs, as trace metals stimulate growth in the river's food chain each year

  13. Which argument best supports the view that mineral extraction can contribute to sustainable development?

    • Mineral extraction is sustainable only if no revenue is generated, since any income from a mine undermines its environmental case
    • Mineral extraction contributes nothing to any economy, because revenue from mining is always absorbed by the companies that run the sites
    • Mineral extraction always damages every local economy beyond repair, since mines leave behind nothing that can support jobs or services
    • Revenues can fund infrastructure and conservation, provided impacts are managed and rehabilitation is planned

  14. Which statement about the distribution of mineral reserves is most accurate?

    • Reserves are found only in areas with no human population, since deposits lie beneath deserts and ice sheets where no one lives
    • Reserves are concentrated in certain regions, creating trade flows to industrial centres
    • Reserves are evenly distributed across all countries, so every nation holds a similar share of the world's known ore deposits
    • Reserves are never traded because they are always consumed locally, with every deposit used in the country where it was mined

  15. Which component of demand for ore is most likely to rise with urban infrastructure expansion?

    • Demand for ores used only in agricultural fertiliser, since phosphate and potash are the sole minerals used across modern farming
    • Demand for gold used only in jewellery, which rises and falls with fashion trends and the price of ornaments in each market
    • Demand for ores used only in ceramics, which are needed for tiles, bricks and glazes in the building trade across each region
    • Demand for steel and copper for construction and utilities

  16. Which measure would best show whether a mining scheme is sustainable over time?

    • The colour of the mine's offices, recorded in a site survey and compared with the paint used on the buildings of other firms
    • The number of visitors to the mine's car park, counted each weekend and compared with the number of staff who drive to the site
    • The average speed of trucks on the local road, measured by roadside sensors and compared with the speed limits set by the council
    • Rehabilitation outcomes, water quality and the balance between extraction and recycling

  17. Which argument best evaluates the claim that all ore extraction must cease for the environment to be protected?

    • Ore is never needed in modern economies, since every product can be made from plastics, glass and wood without any metal at all
    • Extraction can be managed to reduce harm, and recycling and demand reduction can lessen the need for new ore
    • Extraction must cease immediately because all mining causes irreversible harm, since no site can be restored once it has been worked
    • Environmental protection is unrelated to the need for ore, because the natural environment is unaffected by the way metals are produced

  18. Which measure would best indicate the effectiveness of a mining company's environmental management?

    • The total length of the company's road network in the city, counted each year and compared with the road network of rival firms
    • The number of company vehicles parked near the offices, counted at the start of each working day and compared with the staff car park
    • The number of employees who live outside the region, counted from payroll records and compared with the numbers in other sectors
    • Monitoring of water quality, land rehabilitation and compliance with impact assessment conditions

  19. A mine produces 500,000 tonnes of ore a year at a grade of 1.5%. How many tonnes of metal are produced per year?

    • 7,500 tonnes
    • 75,000 tonnes
    • 33,333 tonnes
    • 750 tonnes

  20. Bauxite is the principal ore used to produce which metal?

    • Iron, which is smelted in blast furnaces to make pig iron and then processed into steel for construction, vehicles and machinery
    • Tin, which is smelted from cassiterite and used in solder for electronics and in the coating of food cans across many markets
    • Aluminium
    • Copper, which is refined from its ore in smelters and used widely in wiring, pipes and electronic components across the economy

All AQA Geography quizzes