In general science and chemistry, malachite is an important green coloured ore or mineral of which metal?

Introduction / Context:
Malachite is a well known green coloured mineral that students frequently encounter in general science, chemistry, and geology topics dealing with ores of metals. Examinations often test whether you can correctly link the name of a mineral to the metal it is an ore of. This question checks your recall of the fact that malachite is specifically an ore of copper, not of lead, mercury, or manganese. Knowing such associations helps in understanding metallurgical processes, mineral resources, and industrial uses of different metals.

Given Data / Assumptions:
– The mineral mentioned in the question is malachite, a green secondary mineral.
– The task is to identify the metal for which malachite acts as an ore.
– The options given are lead, copper, mercury, and manganese, all common industrial metals.
– We assume standard school level general science and inorganic chemistry information about important metal ores.

Concept / Approach:
An ore is a naturally occurring mineral from which a metal can be extracted economically. Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral with a characteristic bright green colour. It forms near the surface when primary copper sulphide minerals such as chalcopyrite are weathered. Because it contains a significant proportion of copper, malachite is considered an important ore of copper and is used as a source of this metal. Lead has ores such as galena, mercury has cinnabar, and manganese has ores like pyrolusite. None of these metals primarily rely on malachite as an ore in standard textbook lists, so copper is the correct match.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that malachite is a green carbonate mineral often mentioned together with copper minerals. Step 2: Remember that its chemical composition is a basic copper carbonate, which indicates a high copper content. Step 3: Compare this with common ores of other metals: galena for lead, cinnabar for mercury, and pyrolusite for manganese. Step 4: Conclude that malachite is specifically classified as an ore of copper and select copper as the correct option.

Verification / Alternative check:
If you look at a standard inorganic chemistry or earth science table of ores and metals, you will see malachite listed under the copper section, along with minerals like cuprite and chalcopyrite. These tables usually show the formula of malachite and explicitly identify it as a copper ore. By contrast, lists of lead, mercury, or manganese ores do not include malachite. This cross check with reliable reference data confirms that copper is indeed the metal associated with malachite as an ore.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Lead: The principal ore of lead is galena, a lead sulphide, not malachite, so this option does not match the known mineral metal pair.
Mercury: Mercury is mainly obtained from cinnabar, a mercury sulphide ore; malachite is not used as an ore of mercury.
Manganese: Manganese ores include minerals such as pyrolusite and psilomelane, which are manganese oxides, not copper carbonates like malachite.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to guess randomly among metals without recalling specific ore names. Some students may associate malachite only with its green colour and confuse it with decorative stones rather than treating it as a copper ore. Others might mix up different ore mineral names such as malachite, magnetite, and hematite. To avoid such errors, it helps to memorise short pairs like malachite copper, galena lead, cinnabar mercury, and bauxite aluminium. These simple associations make ore related questions easy scoring opportunities in competitive exams.

Final Answer:
Malachite is an important green coloured ore of the metal Copper.