Minerals in India

INTRODUCTION #

Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-renewable. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for development. The history of min- eral extraction in India dates back to the days of the Harappan civilization. The wide availability of the minerals in the form of abundant rich reserves made it very conducive for the growth and development of the mining sector in India.

The country is endowed with huge resources of many metallic and non-metallic minerals. Mining sector is an important segment of the Indian economy. Since independence, there has been a pronounced growth in the mineral production both in terms of quantity and value. India continued to be wholly or largely self-sufficient in minerals which constitute primary mineral raw materials to industries, such as, thermal power generation, iron & steel, ferroalloys, aluminium, cement, various types of refractories, china clay-based ceramics, glass, chemicals like caustic soda, soda ash, calcium carbide, titania white pigment, etc. India is, by and large, self-sufficient in coal (with the exception of very low ash coking coal required by the steel plants) and lignite among mineral fuels, bauxite, chromite, iron, manganese ores, and rutile among metallic minerals; and almost all the industrial minerals with the exception of chrysotile asbestos, borax, fluorite, kyanite, potash, rock phosphate and elemental sulphur. Despite high degree of self-sufficiency, some quantities of flaky and amorphous graphite of high fixed carbon, kaolin and ball clay for special applications, very low silica limestone, dead-burnt magnesite and sea water mag- nesia, battery grade manganese dioxide, etc. were

imported to meet the demand for either blending with locally available mineral raw materials and/or for manufacturing special qualities of mineral-based products.

To meet the increasing demand of uncut dia- monds, emerald and other precious and semi- pre- cious stones by the domestic cutting and polishing industry, India continued to depend on imports of raw uncut stones for their value-added re-exports.

MINERAL BELTS OF INDIA #

(1)   North-Eastern Peninsular Belt: #

1. It is the richest mineral belt of India.
   1. Comprises of Chotanagpur plateau and Oris- sa plateau in Jharkhand, W. Bengal and Oris- sa.
   1. The Chhotanagpur plateau is known as the mineral heart land of India, also Ruhr of In- dia.
   1. It contains large quantities of coal, iron, man- ganese, mica, bauxite, Copper, Chromites, and Kyanite.

(2)   Central Belt: #

1. It is the 2nd largest mineral belt of India.
   1. Comprises of Chhattisgarh, M.P, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
   1. It has large deposits of Manganese, bauxite, limestone, marble, coal, gems (Panna), mica, iron ore, graphite etc.

(3)   Southern Belt: #

1. It comprises mostly of Karnataka plateau and contiguous T.N. upland.

• It lacks coal deposits except lignite at Neyveli (T.N.).
  • It is more or less similar to northeastern pen- insular belt as far as deposits of ferrous min- erals and bauxite is concerned.

(4)   South-Western Belt: #

1. Southern Karnataka & Goa are included. 2. It has deposits of iron-ore, garnet and clay.

(5)   North-West Belt: #

1. Extends along the Aravallis in Rajasthan and in adjoining parts of Gujarat.
   1. Important minerals – Copper, lead, zinc, Urani- um, mica, bauxite, gypsum, manganese, salt.

(6)   The Indian Ocean #

1. Along with availability of petroleum and natural gas in the off shore areas the sea bed contains manganese nodules, phosphorite nodules and barium sulphate concentration
   1. The best quality nodules are found in water depths of more than 4000 m.
   1. Phosphate nodules are mainly found near An- daman Islands.

Distribution of Minerals #

Iron Ore: #

Types of iron-ore:

• Magnetite – contains 72% pure iron.
• Hematite – contains 60-70% pure iron.
• Limonite – contains 40-60% pure iron.
• Siderite – contains 40-50% pure iron.

(A)   Magnetite ores: #

• This type of ore in India is either of igneous origin or metamorphosed banded magnetic silica formations probably of sedimentary type.
  • It occurs in Dharwar and Cuddapah system of the peninsula.
• Karnataka: Kudremukh deposits.
• Tamil Nadu: Salem, Nilgiri, and Dha- rampuri.
• Andhra Pradesh: at the trijunction of Adilabad, Karimnagar and Nizamabad dist. and Khammam and Warangal dist.

• Kerala: Kozhikode dist.

(B)   Hematite Ores: #

It also occurs in Dharwar & Cuddapah system of the peninsula.

(i)    Jharkhand    &    Orissa:    Gurumahisani- Badampahar belt. #

• M.P. and Eastern Maharashtra region:
  • Bailadila, Raoghat (Bastar dist.)
  • Dalli-Rajhara group (Durg dist.)
  • Lohara-piplagaoh and surajgarh deposits (Eastern Maharashtra).

(iii) Karnataka: #

• Sandur range (Bellary dist.)
  • Bababudan Hills (Chikmanglur dist.)
  • Tumkur, Shimoga & Chitradurg dist.
  • North Kanara deposit.

(iv) Goa-Ratnagiri area: #

• Goa: North (rich), Central (medium), South (poor)
  • Ratnagiri dist.
• Rajasthan: Bhilwara & Udaipur dist.

(C)   Limonite & Siderite: #

Damuda series (Raniganj coal field), Garhwal (Uttaranchal) and Mirzapur dist. of U.P. and Kangra Valley (H.P.)

• Largest reserves: (i) Karnataka (ii) Orissa

(iii) Chhattisgarh (iv) Andhra Pradesh

• Largest producers: (i) Orissa (ii) Karnataka

(iii) Chhattisgarh (iv) Goa

Manganese Ore #

• India has the 2nd largest manganese ore reserves in the world after Zimbabwe.
  • India is its 5th largest producer after Brazil, Gabon, S.Africa and Australia.
  • Orissa, Maharashtra, M.P, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh produce more than 99% of it.
  • Manganese Ores Occurs in Dharwar sedimen- tary socks.

Production Centres #

1. Orissa – Sundergarh, Kalahandi, Koraput, Keonjhar, & Mayurbhanj

• Karnataka – Sandur, N.Kanara, Tumkur, Shimoga
• M.P. – Balaghat, Chhindwara, Jabalpur, Jhabna
• Maharashtra – Nagpur, Bhandara, South Ratnagiri
• Jharkhand – Singhbhum
• Rajasthan – Udaipur, Banswara
• Andhra Pradesh – Vishakhapatnam, Srika- kulam.
  • Largest reserves – (i) Orissa (ii) Karnataka

(iii) M.P.

• Largest producers – (i) Orissa (ii) Maha- rashtra (iii) M.P.

Copper #

• Important ores – cuprite, Malachite, chlcocite, Bronite, Chalcopyrite, and Azurite.
• Production centres:

Rajasthan – Khetri copper belt – (a) Mandan Kaddhan section (b) Kolihan section (c) Dari- ba.

Jharkhand – Singhbhum copper belt M.P. – Balaghat

Largest reserves – (i) Rajasthan (ii) M.P.

(iii) Jharkhand

• Largest producers – (i) M.P. (ii) Rajasthan

(iii) Jharkhand

Lead #

• Galena (lead sulphide) is the chief ore.
• It is found in the reins of limestone, sandstone & slates.
• Major deposits are in Precambrian series. Production center: – Zawar mines (Udaipur dist.) in Rajasthan
• Largest reserves – Rajasthan
• Largest producers – Rajasthan

Gold #

• It is found in quartz veins or reefs of quartz (Lead-gold), occasionally associated with iron and copper sulphide.
• Three important gold fields of India: (i) Kolar gold field – Kolar dist. (Karnataka) (ii) Hutti

gold field – Raichur dist. (Karnataka) (iii) Ratnagiri gold field – Anantpur dist. (Andhra Pradesh)

Alluvial Gold #

• Gold is also found in the alluvial sand and gravels of many streams and rivers.
• Important mines are:
  • Jharkhand – Subarnarekha, Sona nadi, streams draining Sonapat Valley.
  • Kerala – River terraces along Panna Pu- zha & Chakiye Puzha.
• Largest producers – (i) Karnataka (ii) Andhra Pradesh (iii) Jharkhand.

Silver #

• Chief ores: Argentine, Stephanite, Pyrogyrite and Pronstite
• It occurs in mixed form with Zinc, Copper, Lead and Gold.
• Silver is also found in lead-Zinc ores of Zawar mines (Rajasthan), Kolar gold fields and Hutti gold mines of Karnataka. Largest producer – (i) Rajasthan (ii) Jharkhand (iii) Karnataka.

Zinc #

• Main Ore: Zinc-blend.
• It is a mixed ore containing lead and zinc (Pb+Zn).
• More than 99% of the total zinc of India is produced in Zawar area in Udaipur dist. of Rajasthan.
• Small quantity of this Ore is also produced in Sikkim.
• Some deposits have been found in Udhampur dist. (J&K) and South Arcot dist. (Tamil Nadu).

Bauxite #

• An important ore of Aluminium.
• The deposits were formed mainly in tertiary period.
• It is associated with Laterite rocks.

• Largest reserves: (i) Orissa (ii) Andhra Pradesh (iii) Gujarat.
• Largest Producers: (i) Orissa (ii) Gujarat

(iii) Jharkhand.

Mica #

• Three major types of mica found in India are: (i) Muscovite (Potash mica) (ii) Biotite (Iron-magnesium mica) (iii) Phlogopite.
• About 95% of India’s mica is found in three states of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand

Productions areas: #

Rajasthan

• Mica belt from Jaipur in North East to Udai- pur in South West Rajasthan.
• Bhilwara is the most important centre.
• Light green or pink colour, high quality mica.

Andhra Pradesh0 #

• Nellore mica belt between Guntur and Sangam (100 km long and 25 km wide.)
• Nellore mica is generally light green in colour.

Jharkhand & Bihar #

• A belt of 150 km length and 20 km width runs from Gaya to Bhagalpur through Hazaribagh, Giridih and Munger.
• Kodarma is the most important centre and world’s largest mica market.
• This belt contains the richest deposits of high quality Ruby-mica & Bengal-mica.
• Largest producers: (i) Andhra Pradesh (ii) Rajasthan (iii) Jharkhand.

Fossils Fuel Minerals, Coal #

• Coal is the primary source of energy account- ing for about 68% of the total commercial energy consumption in the country.
• There are two main categories of the coal bearing strata in the country:
• Gondwana Coalfields: It accounts for 98% of the total reserves and 99% of the total production of coal in India. Of the

113 major coalfields found all over the India, 80 are located in the rock system of lower Gondwana age. There are about 75 separate basins, mainly confined to peninsular India, in the valleys of certain rivers viz. Damodar (Jharkhand-West Bengal), Mahanadi (Chhattisgarh- Oris- sa), Son (M.P.-Jharkhand), Godavari & Wardha (Maharashtra-Andhra), Indrava- ti, Narmada, Pench and Kanha.

• Tertiary Coalfields:
  • Contains the coal of younger age.
  • Primarily confined to extra peninsular re- gion, viz. Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling in W. Bengal, J&K, U.P. Rajasthan, Kerala, T.N. and U.T. of Pud- dicherry.
  • Assam coal is of high grade as fuel while coals of Kashmir and T.N. have a lower percentage of fixed carbon.

Types of Indian Coal: #

1. Anthracite – (80-95% carbon) it is found only in J&K and that too in small quantity.
2. Bituminous – (40-80% carbon) most of it is found in Jharkhand, Orissa, W.Bengal, Ch- hattisgarh and M.P.
3. Lignite (Brown Coal) – (40-55% carbon) it is found in Palan (Rajasthan), Neyveli (T.N), Lakhimpur (Assam) Karewa (J&K).

Distribution: Most of the coalfields are found in the eastern part of India particularly to the east of 78° E longitude. Maximum concentration is in the north-eastern part of the peninsular plateau comprising parts of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and eastern M.P. and western part of West Bengal adjoining parts of Maharashtra also have large deposits of coal.

Gondwana Coal #

• Jharkhand: Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, Dhan- bad, Karnapura, and Ramgarh (most of the coal fields are located in a narrow belt in east west direction almost along 24°N latitude).
  • Orissa: Dhenkanal, Sambalpur and Sun- dergarh dist. (Talcher coalfield is the most important).

• Andhra Pradesh: Singrauni, Tandur, Kath- agudam (Godavari Valley has the largest reserves).
  • Maharashtra: Kamptee, Wardha Valley, Ballarpur and Warora (Chandrapura dist.).
  • W. Bengal: Raniganj, Burdawan, Purulia, Virbhum, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. (Rani- ganj is the largest coalfield).
  • U.P.: Singrauli coal fields (Mirzapur dist.)

Tertiary Coal #

• Assam: Makum, Nazira, Mikir hills, and Dilli-Jeypore (Makum coalfield in Sibsagar dist. is most developed).
  • Rajasthan: Palan-Bikaner.
  • Meghalaya: Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills.
  • Arunachal     Pradesh:     Namchick-Namrup coalfield (Tirap dist.)
  • Largest coal reserves: (i) Jharkhand (ii) Orissa (iii) Chhattisgarh (iv) W. Bengal.
  • Largest coal producers: (i) Jharkhand (ii) Chhattisgarh (iii) Orissa (iv) M.P.

Petroleum #

In India petroleum resources are confined to the sedimentary rocks Mesozoic and tertiary periods. However, most of the areas are of pre-cambrian age, which are regarded as highly unfavorable regions for oil fields.

Important Potential Basins: Upper Assam, Southern Assam-Surma Valley, Tripura, Sunder- bans (W. Bengal), coastal region of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, T.N. Kerala, Kutch region, Saurashtra, Southern Gujarat (Ankleshwar), Narmada valley (M.P.) Western Himalaya and Ganga basin. The only off-shore basin is Bombay High.

Important Oil fields: #

• Assam: Digboi, Naharkatiya, Hagrijan- Mo- ran, Surma valley, Rudrasagar and Lakwa are new areas.
• Gujarat: Cambay, Ankleshwar, Kabul, Naw- gam, Kosamba, Dholka, Sanand.
• Bombay High (Mumbai High): It is an offshore structure in 2500 km2, 176 km off

Mumbai coast, where production started in 1976. Produces about 2/3 of the total produc- tion of India.

• Bassein: Newly discovered off shore region south of Mumbai High.
• Aliabet: Located at Aliabet Island in the Gulf of Cambay. Commercial production is ex- pected to start soon.
• Krishna-Godavari Basin: Ravva field
  • Largest producers – (i) Mumbai High (ii) Gujarat (iii) Assam (iv) T.N. (v) Andhra Pradesh
  • The first boring was made at Nahar Pung

in 1866 in Makum area of Assam.

Oil Refineries #

At present there are 18 refineries in the country, of which 16 are in Public sector, one is joint sector and one in private sector.

Public Sector Refineries: Digboi, Nunmati, Bongaigaon and Numaligarh in Assam, Barauni (Bihar), Haldia (W. Bengal), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Chennai & Narimanam (T.N), Kochin (Kerala) Trombay (Maharashtra), Koyali (Gujarat), Karnal, Panipat (Haryana), Mathura (U.P.)

• Joint sector Refineries: Mangalore (Karna- taka).
  • Private sector Refinery: Jamnagar (Gujarat).
  • The first refinery was established at Digboi is 1901.
  • Jamnagar (Gujarat) refinery has the largest capacity followed by Koyali.

NATURAL GAS #

It is available both alone and in association with crude oil but most of the output comes from associated sources. The associated gas fields are Ankleshwar and Cambay in Gujarat, Mumbai High and in Assam. Petroleum refineries also produce fuel gas as by product.

Recent Findings #

• Largest producers – (i) Mumbai High (ii) Gujarat (iii) Andhra Pradesh (iv) Assam, and

(v) Tripura.

• Krishna-Godavari basin, Ravva field, Barmer (Rajasthan).

Atomic Minerals Thorium: #

• Main Ores – Thorianite (38-80% of thorium), Monazite (upto 18% thorium).
  • Monazite deposits of commercial value are found in about 160 km belt between cape Comorin and Quilon (in Kerala)
  •   India possesses the largest reserves of Monazite known in the world.

Uranium: #

• Main ores: Pitch blend (50-50% uranium), Uranite (65-80% uranium).

Production: Jharkhand – Jadugoda mines (Singhbhum).

Rajasthan: Bissundi (Ajmer), Umra (Udai- pur).

Andhra Pradesh: Sankara mines (Nellore).

Zirconium & Ilmenite: #

Deposits of commercial value occur is the beach sands of Kerala coast.

Problems Posed by Mineral Resources #

• Depletion of mineral resources: Due to ex- cessive exploitation many minerals are going to be depleted in near future. Thus proper mineral policy for scientific conservation of minerals is needed.
• Ecological problems: Mineral extractions have lead to serious environmental problems. Rapidly growing mining activities has ren- dered large agricultural tracts almost barren. Natural vegetation has been removed from vast tracks. In hilly mining areas landslides are frequent phenomena causing loss of hu- man beings and property.
• Pollution: Mining extraction process causes air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, noise pollution and radioactive pollution.
• Social problems: New discoveries of mines or establishment of new mining industry large amount of local masses has to be displaced. This simply converts them to refugees. The

pollution by mining extraction makes them more prone to diseases.

CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES #

In world of diminishing resources, it becomes essential that the mineral resources should be judi- ciously used by the present generation to ensure a resource base for future generations.

The strategies include: #

• New researches should be undertaken to find out and develop replacement minerals for use in place of scarce minerals which are in short supply and are going to be depleted soon.
• Researches should be carried on to develop new technology which should avoid wastage and promote maximum utilization of by prod- ucts
• There should be curbing on wastage mining methods that deplete the environment too.
• Use of alternate sources of energy like solar energy, hydroelectric energy etc.
• Walking on a path that leads to sustainable development.
• Use of renewable sources of energy.
• Avoid over-exploitation of the mineral re- sources.
• Use of biogas as a fuel for cooking instead of the non-renewable sources of energy.

Non-Conventional Energy Sources #

• Sustainable energy resources are only the renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro- geothermal and biomass. These energy sources are more equitably distributed and environmental friendly.
  • The non-conventional energy sources will provide more sustained, eco-friendly cheaper energy after the initial cost is taken care of.

1.   Nuclear Energy Resources #

• Important minerals used for the generation of nuclear energy are uranium and thorium.
  • Uranium deposits occur in the Dharwar rocks.
  • Geographically, uranium ores are known to occur in several locations along the Singbhum

Copper belt. It is also found in Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, Durg district of Chhattisgarh, Bhandara district of Maharashtra and Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.

• Thorium is mainly obtained from monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands along the coast of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
  • Worlds richest monazite deposits occur in Palakkad and Kollam districts of Kerala, near Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mahanadi river delta in Orissa.
  • Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1948, progress could be made only after the establishment of the Atomic Energy Institute at Trombay in 1954 which was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1967.
  • The important nuclear power projects are Tarapur (Maharashtra) Rawatbhata near Kota (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Kaiga (Karnataka) and Kakarapara (Gujarat

2.   Solar Energy #

• Sun rays tapped in photovoltaic cells can be converted into energy, known as solar energy.
  • The two effective processes considered to be very effective to tap solar energy are photo- voltaics and solar thermal technology.
  • Solar thermal technology has some relative advantages over all other non-renewable energy sources. It is cost competitive, envi- ronment friendly and easy to construct.
  • Solar energy is 7 per cent more effective than coal or oil based plants and 10 per cent more effective than nuclear plants. It is generally used more in appliances like heaters, crop dryers, cookers, etc.
  • The western part of India has greater potential for the development of solar energy in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

3.   Wind Energy #

• Wind energy is absolutely pollution free, inexhaustible source of energy.

• The mechanism of energy conversion from blowing wind is simple. The kinetic energy of wind, through turbines is converted into electrical energy.
  • The permanent wind systems such the trade winds, westerlies and seasonal wind like monsoon have been used as source of energy. Besides these, local winds, land and sea breezes can also be used to produce electricity.
  • India, already has started generating wind energy. It has an ambitious programme to install 250 wind-driven turbines with a total capacity of 45 megawatts, spread over 12 suitable locations, specially in coastal areas.
  • In Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kar- nataka, favourable conditions for wind energy exist.
  • Wind power plant at Lamba in Gujarat in Kachchh is the largest in Asia. Another, wind power plant is located at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

4.   Tidal and Wave Energy #

• Ocean currents are the store-house of infinite energy.
  • Large tidal waves are known to occur along the west coast of India. Hence, India has great potential for the development of tidal energy along the coasts but so far these have not yet been utilised.

5.   Geothermal Energy #

• When the magma from the interior of earth, comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is released. This heat energy can successfully be tapped and converted to electrical energy. Apart from this, the hot water that gushes out through the gyser wells is also used in the generation of thermal energy. It is popularly known as Geothermal energy.
  • This energy is now considered to be one of the key energy sources which can be devel- oped as an alternate source.
  • The hot springs and geysers are being used since medieval period. In India, a geothermal

energy plant has been commissioned at Man- ikaran in Himachal Pradesh.

6.   Bio-energy #

• Bio-energy refers to energy derived from biological products which includes agricul- tural residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes.
  • Bio- energy is a potential source of energy conversion. It can be converted into electrical energy, heat energy or gas for cooking.
  • It will also process the waste and garbage and produce energy. This will improve economic life of rural areas in developing countries, reduce environmental pollution, enhance self-reliance and reduce pressure on fuel wood.

• One such project converting municipal waste into energy is at Okhla in Delhi.

Conservation of Mineral Resources: #

• The alternative energy sources like solar power, wind, wave, geothermal energy are inexhaustible resource. These should be devel- oped to replace the exhaustible resources.
  • In case of metallic minerals, use of scrap metals will enable recycling of metals.
  • Use of scrap is specially significant in met- als like copper, lead and zinc in which Indias reserves are meagre. Use of substitutes for scarce metals may also reduce their consumption.
  • Export of strategic and scarce minerals must be reduced, so that the existing reserve may be used for a longer period.