Ch17 India Mineral and Energy Resources

CBSE Class 12 Geography

Revision Notes
India-People and Economy

Chapter-7 Mineral and Energy Resources

A mineral is a natural substance of organic /inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties.

Types of minerals resources

On the basis of chemical and physical properties, minerals may be grouped under two main categories of metallics and non-metallics

Metallics minerals - metallic minerals are the sources of metals. Iron ore, copper, gold produce metal and are included in this category. Metallic minerals are further divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic minerals
1. Ferrous minerals- All those minerals which have iron content are ferrous such as iron ore
2. Non-ferrous minerals- All those minerals which do not have iron content are non-ferrous such as copper, bauxite, etc.
Non-metallic minerals- Non-metallic minerals are either organic in origin such as fossil fuels also known as mineral fuels which are derived from the buried animal and plant life such as coal and petroleum. Other type of non-metallic minerals are inorganic in origin such as mica, limestone and graphite, etc.

Characteristics of Minerals-

These are unevenly distributed over space
There is inverse relationship in quality and quantity of minerals i.e. good quality minerals are less in quantity as compared to low quality minerals
All minerals are exhaustible over time. These take long to develop geologically and they cannot be replenished immediately at the time of need

Distribution of Minerals

Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in the old crystalline rocks
Over 97 % of coal reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari
Petroleum reserves are located in the sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and Mumbai High i.e. off-shore region in the Arabian Sea

The North-Eastern Plateau Region

This belt covers Chotanagpur (Jharkhand), Orissa Plateau, West Bengal and parts of Chhattisgarh
It has variety of minerals viz. iron ore coal, manganese, bauxite, mica

The South-Western Plateau Region

This belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala
This belt is rich in ferrous metals and bauxite. It also contains high grade iron ore, manganese and limestone
This belt packs in coal deposits except Neyveli lignite
Kerala has deposits of monazite and thorium, bauxite clay
Goa has iron ore deposits

The North-Western Region

This belt extends along Aravali in Rajasthan and part of Gujarat and minerals are associated with Dharwar system of rocks
Copper, zinc have been major minerals
Rajasthan is rich in building stones i.e. sandstone, granite, marble
Dolomite and limestone provide raw materials for cement industry. Gujarat is known for its petroleum deposits
The Himalayan belt is another mineral belt where copper, lead, zinc, cobalt and tungsten are known to occur
They occur on both the eastern and western parts
Assam valley has mineral oil deposits
Oil resources are also found in off-shore-areas near Mumbai Coast (Mumbai High)

Ferrous Mineral

Ferrous minerals such as iron ore, manganese, chromite, etc., provide a strong base for the development of metallurgical industries

Iron ore

India has the largest reserve of iron ore in Asia
The two main types of ore found in our country are haematite and magnetite
It has great demand in international market due to its superior quality
The iron ore mines occur in close proximity to the coal fields in the north-eastern plateau region of the country which adds to their advantage
The total reserves of iron ore in the country were about 20 billion tonnes in the year 2004-05
About 95% of total reserves of iron ore is located in the States of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
In Orissa, iron ore occurs in a series of hill ranges in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar
The important mines are Gurumahisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar (Mayurbhaj), Kiruburu (Kendujhar) and Bonai (Sundergarh)
Jharkhand has some of the oldest iron ore mines and most of the iron and steel plants are located around them
Most of the important mines such as Noamundi and Gua are located in Poorbi and Pashchimi Singhbhum districts
This belt further extends to Durg, Dantewara and Bailadila. Dalli, and Rajhara in Durg are the important mines of iron ore in the country
In Karnataka, iron ore deposits occur in Sandur-Hospet area of Bellary district, Baba Budan hills and Kudremukh in Chikmagalur district and parts of Shimoga, Chitradurg and Tumkur districts
The districts of Chandrapur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Karimnagar, Warangal, Kurnool, Cuddapah and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh, Salem and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu are other iron mining regions
Goa has also emerged as an important producer of iron ore

Manganese

Manganese is an important raw material for smelting of iron ore and also used for manufacturing ferro alloys. Manganese deposits are found in almost all geological formations
Orissa is the leading producer of Manganese
Major mines in Orissa are located in the central part of the iron ore belt of India, particularly in Bonai, Kendujhar, Sundergarh, Gangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi and Bolangir
Karnataka is another major producer and here the mines are located in Dharwar, Bellary, Belgaum, North Canara, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, Chitradurg and Tumkur
Maharashtra is also an important producer of manganese which is mined in Nagpur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri districts
The manganese belt of Madhya Pradesh extends in a belt in Balaghat-Chhindwara-Nimar-Mandla and Jhabua districts
Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Jharkhand are other minor producers of manganese

Non-Ferrous Minerals

Bauxite

Bauxite is the ore which is used in manufacturing of aluminium
Bauxite is found mainly in tertiary deposits and is associated with laterite rocks occurring extensively either on the plateau or hill ranges of peninsular India and also in the coastal tracts of the country
Orissa happens to be the largest producer of Bauxite
Kalahandi and Sambalpur are the leading producers
The other two areas which have been increasing their production are Bolangir and Koraput
Jharkhand in Lohardaga have rich deposits
Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are other major producers
Bhavanagar, Jamnagar in Gujarat have the major deposits
Chhattisgarh has bauxite deposits in Amarkantak plateau while Katni-Jabalpur area and Balaghat in M.P. have important deposits of bauxite
Kolaba, Thane, Ratnagiri, Satara, Pune and Kolhapur in Maharashtra are important producers
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa are minor producers of bauxite

Copper

Copper is an indispensable metal in the electrical industry for making wires, electric motors, transformers and generators

It is alloyable, malleable and ductile
It is also mixed with gold to provide strength to jewellery
The Copper deposits mainly occur in Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh and Jhunjhunu and Alwar districts in Rajasthan
Minor producers of Copper are Agnigundala in Guntur District (Andhra Pradesh), Chitradurg and Hasan districts (Karnataka) and South Arcot district (Tamil Nadu)

Non-metallic

Minerals Among the non-metallic minerals produced in India, mica is the important one
The other minerals extracted for local consumption are limestone, dolomite and phosphate

Mica

It is mainly used in the electrical and electronic industries
Mica in India is produced in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan followed by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh
In Jharkhand high quality mica is obtained in lower Hazaribagh plateau
In Andhra Pradesh. Nellore district produces the best quality mica
In Rajasthan mica belt extends from Jaipur to Bhilwara and around Udaipur
Mica deposits also occur in Mysore and Hasan districts of Karanataka, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai and Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu, Alleppey in Kerala, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Purulia and Bankura in West Bengal

Energy Resources

Mineral fuels are essential for generation of power, required by agriculture, industry, transport and other sectors of the economy
Mineral fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas (known as fossil fuels), nuclear energy minerals, are the conventional sources of energy(exhaustible resources

Coal

Coal is a one of the important minerals which is mainly used in the generation of thermal power and smelting of iron ore
Coal occurs in rock sequences mainly of two geological ages, namely Gondwana and tertiary deposits
About 80% of the coal deposits in India is of bituminous type and is of non-coking grade
The most important Gondwana coal fields of India are located in Damodar Valley
They lie in Jharkhand-Bengal coal belt and the important coal fields in this region are Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, Karanpura
Jharia is the largest coal field followed by Raniganj
The other river valleys associated with coal are Godavari, Mahanadi and Sone
The most important coal mining centres are Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh (part of Singrauli coal field lies in Uttar Pradesh), Korba in Chhattisgarh, Talcher and Rampur in Orissa, Chanda–Wardha, Kamptee and Bander in Maharashtra and Singareni and Pandur in Andhra Pradesh
Tertiary coals occur in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland
It is extracted from Darangiri, Cherrapunji, Mewlong and Langrin (Meghalaya); Makum, Jaipur and Nazira in upper Assam, Namchik – Namphuk (Arunachal Pradesh) and Kalakot (Jammu and Kashmir)
The brown coal or lignite occur in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir

Petroleum

Crude petroleum consists of hydrocarbons of liquid and gaseous states varying in chemical composition, colour and specific gravity
It is an essential source of energy for all internal combustion engines in automobiles, railways and aircraft. Its numerous by-products are processed in petrochemical industries such as fertiliser, synthetic rubber, synthetic fibre, medicines, vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap and cosmetics
In Assam, Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran are important oil producing areas
The major oil fields of Gujarat are Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba and Lunej. Mumbai High
There are two types of refineries in India: (a) field based. Eg.Digbo and (b) market based. Eg. Barauni
There are 18 refineries in India

Natural Gas

The Gas Authority of India Limited was set up in 1984 as a public sector undertaking to transport and market natural gas
Important gas reserves are in Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh ,Tripura, Rajasthan and off-shore wells in Gujarat and Maharashtra

Natural Energy Resources

Important minerals used for the generation of nuclear energy are uranium and thorium
Uranium deposits occur in the Dharwar rocks
Uranium ores are found in the Singbhum Copper belt, 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
World’s 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
Again it was established as a 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)

Non-Conventional Energy Sources

Fossil fuel sources, such as coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear energy use exhaustible raw materials
Sustainable energy resources are only the renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro-geothermal and biomass

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 photovoltaics and solar thermal technology
Advantages of Solar thermal technology are
- It is cost competitive, environment friendly and easy to construct
- Solar energy is 7 % more effective than coal or oil based plants and 10 % more effective than nuclear plants
- It is generally used more in appliances like heaters, crop dryers, cookers, etc.

Wind Energy

Wind energy is absolutely pollution free, inexhaustible source of energy
In Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, favourable conditions for wind energy exist
Wind power plant at Lamba in Gujarat in Kachchh is the largest in Asia
Wind power plant is located at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu

Geo thermal Energy

Geothermal Energy is the thermal energy generated by the radioactive decay of materials in the earth’s interior
This energy is now considered to be one of the key energy sources which can be developed as an alternate source
In India, a geothermal energy plant has been commissioned at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh

Bio Energy

Bio-energy refers to energy derived from biological products which includes agricultural residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes
Advantages of bio energy
Bioenergy 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
It 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 Okhla in Delhi

Conservation of Mineral Resources

Steps to conserve mineral resources are-

The alternative energy sources like solar power, wind, wave, geothermal energy are inexhaustible resource. These should be developed to replace the exhaustible resources
In case of metallic minerals, use of scrap metals will enable recycling of metals
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.

Ch17 India Mineral and Energy Resources - Revision Notes