Mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties.The process of extracting mineral from the earth is known as mining.The mines near the earth crust are known as open pit mines while the deep mines are known as shaft mines.
Types of Minerals
On the basis of chemical and physical properties, minerals are broadly grouped under two categories.They are metalic and non-metalic minerals.
a) Metalic Minerals
Metalic Minerals are the minerals which contain or more metalic elements in them.Metalic minerals oocur in race, naturally formed concentrations known as mineral deposits.These deposits consist of a variety of valuable metals such as iron,manganese, copper,bauxite,nickel,zinc,lead,gold etc.
i ) Iron ore
Iron ore is the most widely distributed elements of the earth crust,rarely occurs in a free state.It enters into the composition of many rocks and minerals especially from igneous and metamorphic rocks.The total recoverable reserves of iron ore in India are about 9602 million tons of haematite and 3408 million tons of magnitude.About 79% haematite deposits are found in Assam,Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Odisha and Uttur Pradesh.About 93% magnitude deposits occur in Andhra Pradesh,Goa, Karnataka alone contributes about 72% of magnetite deposits of India.
Jharkhand is the leading producer of iron ore with 25% the country’s production.Singhbhum,Hazaribagh,Dhanbad and Ranchi districts are its major producers.Odisha with 21% production ranks second.Sundargarh,Mayurbhanj,Sambalpur and Keonjhar districts are its major producers.The magnitude production of Chhattisgarh,Shimoga and (Chikmagalur, Chitradurga,Shimoga and Dharwad districts are its major producers). Andhrapradesh and Karnataka produce about 5% each.Kurnool,Guntur,Cuddapah and Anantapur districts in Andhra Pradesh and Salem, Namakkal,Thiruvannamalai, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore,Madurai and Tirunelveli districts in Tamil Nadu are notable for the production of iron ore.
ii) Maganese
Manganese is a silvery grey element.Ir is very hard and brittle in nature.Ir is always available in combination with iron and steel and serves as basic raw material for alloying.It is the most important mineral for making iron and steel.Nearly 10 kg maganese is required for manufacturing one ton of steel.It is also used in the manufacturing of bleaching powder, insecticides,paints and batteries.Manganese deposits oocur mainly as metamorphosed bedded sedimentary deposits.The largest deposits of manganese is found in Odisha (44%)followed by Karnataka (22%),Madhya Pradesh (12%), Maharashtra &Goa(7% each), Andhra Pradesh (4%) and Jharkhand (2%). Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telengana and west Bengal together constitute about 2% of the India’s manganese resource.Nagpur,Bhandara and Ratnagiri districts in Maharashtra and Balaghat and Chhindwara district mts in Odisha is the third largest producer with 24% Other producers are Andhra Pradesh (13%) and Karnataka (6%). Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Cuddapah and Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh and the districts of Shimoga, Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur are the important districts mineral for making iron and steel.India is the fifth largest producer of manganese in the world.
iii) copper
Copper is the first metal that prehistoric man has started using for many purposes.Being flexible,it can be made into utensils of any shape.Brass and Bronze are obtained when the copper alloys with zinc and tin respectively.Copper has been commonly used for making cooking utensils and other objects of common utility.In modern days,it ia extensively used in vast variety of electrical machinery,wires and cables.Largest reserves of copper ore is in the state of Rajasthan (53.81%) followed by Jharkhand (19.54%) and Madhya Pradesh (18.75%).The states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland,Odisha ,Sikkim, Tamilnadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal account for 7.9% of the total copper reserves of India.
Jharkhand is the largest producer of copper with62% of India’s production.Singhbhum and Hazaribagh districts are its leading producers of copper.Odisha is the other major producer with 50.2% production.The districts of Khetei,Alwar and Bhilwara are notables in this state.The states of Uttarakhand (Dehradun and Garhwal districts),Andhra Pradesh (Guntur,Kurnool and Nellore districts ),and Tamil Nadu contributes about 7% of production each.
iv) Bauxite
Bauxite is an important ore from which aluminium is extracted.It is found in the rock consisting mainly of hydrated aluminium oxides.Bauxite is widely distributed as surface deposits in the areas of laterite soil.Being light in weight and tough, aluminium is used in the manufacture of aircraft and automobile engines.Bauxite is also used in the manufacture of cement and chemicals.
The main bauxite deposits occur in Odisha-50.2%, Gujarat-15.8%(Junagadh Amreli and Bhavnagar districts), Jharkhand -11.9%(Ranchi and Gumila districts), Maharashtra-9.9%(Sindhu durg and Ratnagiri), Chhattisgarh-6.2%(Ballarpur and Durg districts),and Tamil Nadu-2.7%.Being light in the manufacture of aircraft and automobile engines.Bauxite is also used in the manufacture of cement and chemicals.Orissa is the largest producer of bauxite in India with appox.1,370.5 million tonnes.India’s state and central Government is very supportive in production of Bauxite and other Industrial Minerals in Orissa, Jharkhand,Tamil Nadu.
b) Non-Metalic Minerals
These minerals do not contain metal in them.Mica, limestone, gypsum, nitrate,potash, dolomite,coal, petroleum etc are the Non-Metalic Minerals.
I ) Mica
In ancient time,Mica was used in ayurvedic medicine.Mica became very popular with the development of electrical indusrtry.Abhrak is a good quality mica.It is translucent, easily splitable into thin sheets,flat,colourless, elastic and incompressible.Mica is used in making of insultating properties,as it withstands high voltage and has low power loss factor.Since it is a non conductor of electricity, it is exclusively used in electrical goods.It is also used in making of lubricants,, medicines, paints and Varnishes.
The major deposits of mica are found in Andhra Pradesh (41%) with Nellore, Visakhapatnam,West Godavari and Krishna are its major districts.other important states in mica deposits are Rajasthan (21%) and Odisha(20%).Bhilwara, Jaipur and Ajmer are the notable districts in Rajasthan and , Rayagada, Bolangir and Sundargarh districts are the major producers in Odisha.Dhanbad,Palamu,Ranchi and Singhbhum districts are the major mica mines in Jharkhand state.
ii) Lime stone
Limestone is associated with rocks composed of either calcium carbonate or the double carbonate of calcium and magnesium or mixture of both.Limestone also contains small quantities of Silica,aluminia,iron oxides, Phosphorus and Sulphar.Limeatone is used in the industries of chemicals for soda ash, caustic soda, bleaching powder,paper, cement,iron and steel,glass and fertilizers.The major producing areas:Andhra Pradesh produces about 20% with major concentration in Cuddapah,Kurnool and Guntur districts.Telengana also accounts for about 20% of the country’s producion with the districts of Nalgonda,Abilabad,Warangal and Karimnagar as major producers.Rajasthan produces about 18% (Jodhpur and Santa districts)and Tamilnadu about 8.4% (Salem, Kanchipuram, Tiruchirapalli, Thoothukudi Thirunelweli and virudhunagar districts ) of limestone production of India.In terms of the reserves of limestone,the state of Karnataka leads with 27% followed by Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan (12% each), Gujarat (10%), Meghalaya (9%), Telangana (8%), Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh (5% each) and the remaining by other states.
iii) Gypsum
Gypsum is a hydrated of calcium which occurs as white ,Opaque or transparent minerals in beds of sedimentary rocks such as limestone, sandstone and shale.Gypsum is used in the manufacture of cement, fertilizers,wall board ,plaster of Paris and in soil conditioning.The state of Rajasthan alone accounts for 81% of its reserves.14% its reserves is found in Jammu and Kashmir and 2% in Tamil Nadu.The remaining 3% resources are found in the states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Rajasthan produces 82% of the country’s producion.Jodhpur , Bikaner and Jaisalmer are notable districts.Jammu and Kashmir produces 14% of country’s gypsum.Baramula,Doda and Uri districts are its major producers.The states of Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu are the other producers with about 4% each.
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