MINERAL AND
ENERGY RESOURCES
·
A mineral is a natural
substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical
properties.
Types of Mineral Resources
1.
On the basis of chemical and
physical properties, minerals may be grouped under two main categories of
metallic and non-metallic
2.
Metallic minerals are the
sources of metals. Iron ore, copper, gold produce metal
3.
Metallic minerals are further
divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic minerals
4.
Ferrous Refers to iron
5.
All those minerals which have
iron content are ferrous such as iron ore itself
6.
Those which do not have iron
content are non-ferrous such as copper, bauxite, etc.
7.
Non-metallic minerals are
either organic in origin such as fossil fuels also known as mineral fuels
8.
Which are derived from the
buried animal and plant life such as coal and petroleum
9.
Good quality minerals are less
in quantity as compared to low quality minerals
10.
All minerals are exhaustible
over time.
11.
These take long to develop
geologically and they cannot be replenished immediately at the time of need
Agencies involved in the exploration
of minerals
1.
In India, systematic surveying,
prospecting and exploration for minerals is undertaken by the Geological Survey
of India (GSI)
2.
Oil and Natural Gas Commission
(ONGC)
3.
Mineral Exploration Corporation
Ltd. (MECL)
4.
National Mineral Development
Corporation (NMDC)
5.
Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM)
6.
Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML)
7.
Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL)
8.
National Aluminium Company Ltd.
(NALCO)
9.
The Departments of Mining and
Geology in various states
Distribution of Minerals in India
1.
Most of the metallic minerals
in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in the old crystalline rocks
2.
Over 97 per cent of coal
reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari.
3.
Petroleum reserves are located
in the sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and Mumbai High i.e. off-shore
region in the Arabian Sea.
4.
Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri
basins.
5.
Most of the major mineral
resources occur to the east of a line linking Mangalore and Kanpur.
6.
Minerals are generally concentrated
in three broad belts in India.
The North-Eastern Plateau Region
1.
This belt covers Chotanagpur
(Jharkhand), Orissa Plateau, West Bengal and parts of Chhattisgarh.
2.
It has variety of minerals viz.
iron ore coal, manganese, bauxite, mica.
The South-Western Plateau Region
1.
This belt extends over
Karnataka, Goa and contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala.
2.
This belt is rich in ferrous
metals and bauxite.
3.
It also contains high grade
iron ore, manganese and limestone.
4.
This belt packs in coal
deposits except Neyveli lignite. This belt does
5.
This belt does not have as
diversified mineral deposits as the north-eastern belt.
6.
Kerala has deposits of monazite
and thorium, bauxite clay. Goa has iron ore deposits.
The North-Western Region
1.
This belt extends along Aravali
in Rajasthan and part of Gujarat and minerals are associated with Dharwar
system of rocks.
2.
Copper, zinc have been major
minerals. Rajasthan is rich in building stones i.e. sandstone, granite, marble.
3.
Gypsum and Fuller’s earth
deposits are also extensive
4.
Dolomite and limestone provide
raw materials for cement industry
5.
Gujarat is known for its
petroleum deposits.
6.
Gujarat and Rajasthan both have
rich sources of salt.
7.
The Himalayan belt is another
mineral belt where copper, lead, zinc, cobalt and tungsten are known to occur.
8.
They occur on both the eastern
and western parts.
9.
Assam valley has mineral oil
deposits. Besides oil resources are also found in off-shore-areas near Mumbai
Coast (Mumbai High).
Ferrous Mineral
1.
Ferrous minerals such as iron
ore, manganese, chromite, etc., provide a strong base for the development of
metallurgical industries.
2.
Our country is well-placed in
respect of ferrous minerals both in reserves and production.
Iron Ore
1.
It has the largest reserve of
iron ore in Asia.
2.
The two main types of ore found
in our country are haematite and magnetite.
3.
It has great demand in
international market due to its superior quality.
4.
The iron ore mines occur in
close proximity to the coal fields in the
5.
North-eastern plateau region of
the country which adds to their advantage.
6.
The total reserves of iron ore
in the country were about 20 billion tonnes in the year 2004-05.
7.
About 95 per cent of total
reserves of iron ore is located in the States of Orissa, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
8.
In Orissa, iron ore occurs in a
series of hill ranges in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar.
9.
The important mines are
Gurumahisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar (Mayurbhaj), Kiruburu (Kendujhar) and Bonai
(Sundergarh).
10.
Similar hill ranges, Jharkhand
has some of the oldest
11.
Iron ore mines and most of the
iron and steel plants are located around them.
12.
Most of the important mines
such as Noamundi and Gua are located in Poorbi and Pashchimi Singhbhum
districts.
13.
This belt further extends to
Durg, Dantewara and Bailadila.
14.
Dalli, and Rajhara in Durg are
the important mines of iron ore in the country
15.
In Karnataka, iron ore deposits
occur in Sandur-Hospet area of Bellary district,
16.
Baba Budan hills and Kudremukh
in Chikmagalur district and parts of Shimoga, Chitradurg and Tumkur districts.
17.
The districts of Chandrapur,
Bhandara and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra,
18.
Salem and Nilgiris districts of
Tamil Nadu are other iron mining regions.
19.
Goa has also emerged as an
important producer of iron ore.
Manganese
1.
Manganese is an important raw
material for smelting of iron ore and also used for manufacturing ferro alloys.
2.
It is mainly associated with
Dharwar system.
3.
Orissa is the leading producer
of Manganese
4.
Major mines in Orissa are
located in the central part of the iron ore belt of India,
5.
Particularly in Bonai,
Kendujhar, Sundergarh, Gangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi and Bolangir.
6.
Karnataka is another major
producer and here the mines are located in Dharwar, Bellary, Belgaum, North
Canara, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, Chitradurg and Tumkur.
7.
Maharashtra is also an
important producer of manganese which is mined in Nagpur, Bhandara and
Ratnagiri districts.
8.
The disadvantage to these mines
is that they are located far from steel plants.
9.
The manganese belt of Madhya
Pradesh extends in a belt in Balaghat-Chhindwara-Nimar-Mandla and Jhabua
districts.
10.
Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and
Jharkhand are other minor producers of manganese.
11.
India is poorly endowed with
non-ferrous metallic minerals except bauxite.
Bauxite
1.
Bauxite is the ore which is
used in manufacturing of aluminium.
2.
Bauxite is found mainly in
tertiary deposits and is associated with laterite rocks
3.
Occurring extensively either on
the plateau or hill ranges of peninsular India and also in the coastal tracts
of the country
4.
Orissa happens to be the
largest producer of Bauxite
5.
Kalahandi and Sambalpur are the
leading producers
6.
The other two areas which have
been increasing their production are Bolangir and Koraput.
7.
The patlands of Jharkhand in
Lohardaga have rich deposits
8.
Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra are other major producers.
9.
Bhavanagar, Jamnagar in Gujarat
have the major deposits.
10.
Chhattisgarh has bauxite
deposits in Amarkantak plateau while Katni-Jabalpur area and Balaghat in M.P.
have important deposits of bauxite.
11.
Kolaba, Thane, Ratnagiri,
Satara, Pune and Kolhapur in Maharashtra are important producers.
12.
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa
are minor producers of bauxite.
Copper
1.
Copper is an indispensable
metal in the electrical industry for making wires, electric motors, transformers
and generators.
2.
It is alloy able, malleable and
ductile. It is also mixed with gold to provide strength to jewellery.
3.
The Copper deposits mainly
occur in Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh
and Jhunjhunu and Alwar districts in Rajasthan.
4.
Minor producers of Copper are
Agnigundala in Guntur District (Andhra Pradesh)
5.
Chitradurg and Hasan districts
(Karnataka) and South Arcot district (Tamil Nadu).
6.
Non-metallic Minerals
7.
Among the non-metallic minerals
produced in India, mica is the important one
8.
The other minerals extracted
for local consumption are limestone, dolomite and phosphate.
Mica
1.
Mica is mainly used in the
electrical and electronic industries
2.
It can be split into very thin
sheets which are tough and flexible
3.
Mica in India is produced in
Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan followed by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and
Madhya Pradesh
4.
In Jharkhand high quality mica
is obtained in a belt extending over a distance of about 150 km, in length and
about 22 km, in width in lower Hazaribagh plateau
5.
In Andhra Pradesh. Nellore
district produces the best quality mica.
6.
In Rajasthan mica belt extends
for about 320 mms from Jaipur to Bhillama and around Udaipur.
7.
Mica deposits also occur in
Mysore and Hasan districts of Karnataka,
8.
Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli,
Madurai and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu,
9.
Alleppey in Kerala, Ratnagiri
in Maharashtra, Purulia and Bankura in West Bengal
Energy Resources
1.
Mineral fuels like coal,
petroleum and natural gas (known as fossil fuels),
2.
Nuclear energy minerals, are
the Conventional sources of energy.
3.
These conventional sources are
exhaustible resources.
Coal
1.
Coal is a one of the important
minerals which is mainly used in the generation of thermal power and smelting
of iron ore.
2.
Coal occurs in rock sequences
mainly of two geological ages, namely Gondwana and tertiary deposits
3.
About 80 per cent of the coal
deposits in India is of bituminous type and is of non-coking grade.
4.
The most important Gondwana
coal fields of India are located in Damodar Valley.
5.
They lie in Jharkhand-Bengal
coal belt and the important coal fields in this region are Raniganj, Jharia,
Bokaro, Giridih, and Karanpura.
6.
Jharia is the largest coal
field followed by Raniganj
7.
The other river valleys
associated with coal are Godavari, Mahanadi and Sone
8.
The most important coal mining
centres are Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh (part of Singrauli coal field lies in
Uttar Pradesh)
9.
Korba in Chhattisgarh, Talcher
and Rampur in Orissa
10.
Chanda–Wardha, Kamptee and
Bander in Maharashtra and Singareni and Pandur in Andhra Pradesh.
11.
It is extracted from Darangiri,
Cherrapunji, Mewlong and Langrin (Meghalaya
12.
Makum, Jaipur and Nazira in
upper Assam
13.
Namchik – Namphuk (Arunachal
Pradesh)
14.
Kalakot (Jammu and Kashmir)
15.
The brown coal or lignite occur
in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
Petroleum
1.
It is an essential source of
energy for all internal combustion engines in automobiles, railways and
aircraft.
2.
Its numerous by-products are
processed in petrochemical industries such as fertiliser, synthetic rubber,
synthetic fibre, medicines, Vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap and cosmetics
3.
Petroleum is referred to as
liquid gold because of its scarcity and diversified uses.
4.
Crude petroleum occurs in
sedimentary rocks of the tertiary period
5.
Oil exploration and production
was systematically taken up after the Oil and Natural Gas Commission was set up
in 1956
6.
Till then, the Digboi in Assam
was the only oil producing region but the scenario has changed after 1956
7.
In recent years, new oil deposits
have been found at the extreme western and eastern parts of the country
8.
In Assam, Digboi, Naharkatiya
and Moran are important oil producing areas.
9.
The major oil fields of Gujarat
are Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba and Lunej.
10.
Mumbai High which lies 160 km
off Mumbai was discovered in 1973, production commenced in 1976
11.
Oil and natural gas have been
found in exploratory wells in Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basin on the east
coast
12.
Oil extracted from the wells is
crude oil and contains many impurities
13.
It cannot be used directly. It
needs to be refined
14.
There are two types of
refineries in India:
(a)
Field based
(b)
Market based
15.
Digboi is an example of field
base
16.
Barauni is an example of market
based refinery
17.
There are 18 refineries in
India
Natural Gas
1.
The Gas Authority of India
Limited was set up in 1984 as a public sector undertaking to transport and
market natural gas.
2.
It is obtained along with oil
in all the oil fields but exclusive reserves have been located along
3.
The eastern coast as well as
(Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh), Tripura, Rajasthan and off-shore wells
in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
1.
Nuclear energy has emerged as a
viable source in recent times
2.
Important minerals used for the
generation of nuclear energy are uranium and thorium
3.
Uranium deposits occur in the
Dharwar rocks.
4.
Geographically, uranium ores
are known to occur in several locations along the Singbhum Copper belt.
5.
It is also found in Udaipur,
Alwar and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan
6.
Durg district of Chhattisgarh,
7.
Bhandara district of
Maharashtra and Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.
8.
Thorium is mainly obtained from
monazite and limonite in the beach sands
9.
The coast of Kerala and Tamil
Nadu
10.
World’s richest monazite
deposits occur in Palakkad and Kollam districts of Kerala
11.
Near Vishakhapatnam in Andhra
Pradesh and Mahanadi river delta in Orissa.
12.
Atomic Energy Commission was
established in 1948, progress could be made only after
13.
The establishment of the Atomic
Energy Institute at Trombay in 1954 which was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre in 1967.
14.
The important nuclear power
projects are Tarapur (Maharashtra), Rawatbhata near Kota (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam
(Tamil Nadu), Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Kaiga (Karnataka) and Kakarapara
(Gujarat).
Non-Conventional Energy Sources
1.
Fossil fuel sources, such as
coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear energy use exhaustible raw materials.
2.
Sustainable energy resources
are only the renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro-geothermal and
biomass.
Solar Energy
1.
Sun rays tapped in photovoltaic
cells can be converted into energy, known as solar energy
2.
The two effective processes
considered to be very effective to tap solar energy are photovoltaic and solar
thermal technology
3.
Solar thermal technology has
some relative advantages over all other non-renewable energy sources.
4.
It is cost competitive,
environment friendly and easy to construct
5.
Solar energy is 7 per cent more
effective than coal or oil based plants and 10 per cent more effective than
nuclear plants.
6.
The western part of India has
greater potential for the development of solar energy in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Wind Energy
1.
Wind energy is absolutely
pollution free, inexhaustible source of energy
2.
Conversion from blowing wind is
simple
3.
The kinetic energy of wind,
through turbines is converted into electrical energy.
4.
The permanent wind systems such
the trade winds, westerlies and seasonal wind like monsoon have been used as
source of energy.
5.
Besides these, local winds,
land and sea breezes can also be used to produce electricity
6.
Spread over 12 suitable
locations, especially in coastal areas.
7.
According to the estimation by
Ministry of Power, India will be able to produce 3,000 megawatts of electric
from this source.
8.
The Ministry of
non-conventional sources of energy is developing wind energy in India to lessen
the burden of oil import bill
9.
The country’s potential of wind
power generation exceeds 50,000 megawatts, of which one fourth can be easily
harnessed.
10.
In Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Karnataka, favourable conditions for wind energy exist.
11.
Another, wind power plant is
located at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu
Tidal and Wave Energy
1.
Ocean currents are the
store-house of infinite energy
2.
Large tidal waves are known to
occur along the west coast of India
3.
Hence, India has great
potential for the development of tidal energy along the coasts but so far these
have not yet been utilised
Geothermal Energy
1.
When the magma from the
interior of earth, comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is released.
2.
This heat energy can
successfully be tapped and converted to electrical energy.
3.
Apart from this, the hot water
that gushes out through the geyser wells is also used in the generation of
thermal energy.
4.
Apart from this, the hot water
that gushes out through the geyser wells is also used in the generation of
thermal energy.
5.
The hot springs and geysers are
being used since medieval period.
6.
In India, a geothermal energy
plant has been commissioned at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh.
7.
The first successful (1890)
attempt to tap the underground heat was made in the city of Boise, Idaho
(U.S.A.),
8.
Where a hot water pipe network
was built to give heat to the surrounding buildings. This plant is still
working.
Bio-energy
1.
Bio-energy refers to energy
derived from biological products which includes agricultural residues,
municipal, industrial and other wastes.
2.
It can be converted into
electrical energy, heat energy or gas for cooking
3.
It will also process the waste
and garbage and produce energy.
4.
This will improve economic life
of rural areas in developing countries, reduce environmental pollution
5.
Enhance self-reliance and
reduce pressure on fuel wood
6.
One such project converting
municipal waste into energy is Okhla in Delhi.
Conservation of Mineral Resources
1.
The challenge of sustainable
development requires integration of quest for economic development with
environmental concerns.
2.
Traditional methods of resource
use result into generating enormous quantity of waste as well as create other
environmental problems.
3.
The alternative energy sources
like solar power, wind, wave, geothermal energy are inexhaustible resource
4.
These should be developed to
replace the exhaustible resources
5.
In case of metallic minerals,
use of scrap metals will enable recycling of metals.
6.
Use of scrap is especially significant
in metals like copper, lead and zinc in which India’s reserves are meagre
7.
Use of substitutes for scarce
metals may also reduce their consumption.
8.
Export of strategic and scarce
minerals must be reduced, so that the existing reserve may be used for a longer
period.
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