Minerals
and Commodities
DIAMOND
COPPER
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from the Latin cuprum), atomic number 29 (29 protons and 29 electrons) and atomic mass 63.54 u. At room temperature, copper is in a solid state. Classified as a transition metal, it belongs to group 11 (previously called IB) of the Periodic Classification of Elements.
Diamond is a crystal in an allotropic form of carbon, with chemical formula C. It is the stable triangular form of carbon at pressures above 6 GPa (60 kbar). Marketed as gemstones, diamonds have a high added value. Normally, diamond crystallizes with a cubic structure and can be industrially synthesized.
NIOBIUM
TOPAZ
It is a chemical element, symbol Nb, atomic number 41 (41 protons and 41 electrons) and atomic mass 92.9 u. It is a transition element belonging to group 5 (formerly called 5B) of the periodic classification of elements. Niobium has similar physical and chemical properties to the chemical element tantalum and therefore both are difficult to distinguish.
GOLD
It is a chemical element (symbol Au) with atomic number 79 (79 protons and 79 electrons) that is located in group 11 (formerly called IB) of the periodic table, and with atomic mass 197 u. In nature, gold is produced from the collision of two neutron stars.
Topaz is a fluorine aluminum nesosilicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2(F,OH)2SiO4. It is widely used in jewelry and classified as a gemstone. It is a mineral that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic, terminated or not by pyramidal faces, often presenting a basal pinacoid.
TANTALUM
Tantalum (preferred form in Portugal and Brazil) or tantalum is a chemical element with atomic number 73 (73 protons and 73 electrons), symbol Ta with atomic mass 181 u, which is located in group 5 (previously called VB) of the periodic classification of elements.
RARE LANDS
Rare earths or rare earth metals are, according to the IUPAC classification, a relatively abundant group of 17 chemical elements, of which 15 belong in the periodic table of elements to the lanthanide group.
Many of the elements included in the rare earths were named in honor of the scientists who isolated them for the first time or who described their elementary physicochemical properties, by their geographical origin, by reference to classical Greco-Latin mythology or by Latinized or Hellenized neologisms.
The elements included in the category, and the respective etymology , are as follows:
