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Minerals in India:
India is one of the richest countries in mineral resources in the world. Since India’s internal structure of earth is the product of ancient hard rocks, almost all kinds of mineral are found here:
- Gondwana rocks (Chhota Nagpur plateau) are the richest mineral deposits in India.
Metallic Minerals:
- Iron, Manganese, Tungsten, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Bauxite, Gold, Silver, Pyrite, Magnesite, Ilmenite, Tin, etc.
Non-Metallic Minerals:
- Mica, Asbestos, Pyrite, Salt, Gypsum, Diamond, Kyanite, Building rocks, Marbles, Lime-rock, different kinds of soils, etc.
Atomic Minerals:
- Uranium, Thorium, Beryllium, Zircon, Surma, Graphite.
Fossil Fuels:
- Coal, mineral oil and Natural gas.
1. Coal:
- Coal accounts for 67% of total commercial energy produced in India. In India, 98% of the coal is found in Gondwana rocks of Moran region. The main regions of Gondwana rocks are found in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha from where 76% of the total coal production is found.
- The first effort made to extract coal with modern technology in India was at Raniganj coal region in West Bengal.
- Coal is found in sedimentary rocks beneath rock surface and is often called “Black Gold”.
- Coal are of four types:
- Anthracite (more than 80% carbon content) – It is the best quality of coal. In India, Anthracite is found only in J&K.
- Bituminous (60 to 80% carbon content) – It is the second best quality of coal. India is rich in it.
- Lignite (40 to 60% carbon content) – It is mainly found in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and a little in Jammu & Kashmir.
- Peat (less than 40% carbon content)
Major Coal Fields in India:
| State | Coal Fields |
|---|---|
| West Bengal | Raniganj (oldest coal field of India) |
| Jharkhand | Jharia (largest), Bokaro, Dhanbad, Giridih, Karanpura, Ramgarh, Daltonganj |
| Madhya Pradesh | Singrauli, Sohagpur, Johilla, Umaria, Satpura coalfields |
| Odisha | Talcher, Himgiri, Rampur |
| Andhra Pradesh | Kantapalli, Singareni |
| Chhattisgarh | Korba, Bisrampur, Sonhat, Jhilimili, Hasdo-Arand |
| Assam | Makum, Najira, Janji, Jaipur |
| Meghalaya | Umralong, Darrangiri, Cherrapunji, Mawlong, Langrin |
2. Petroleum or Mineral Oil:
- According to ONGC, the total oil reserve of India is 1750 Lakh tonnes. The mineral oil resources of India are distributed in three important basins.
- Upper Assam or the Naharkatia–Moran Region: It is India’s most important and oldest oil region. Major oil wells in this region are Digboi, Naharkatia, Moran, Lakwa, Sibsagar and Rudrasagar.
- Mumbai High: This is an offshore source, lying 167 km to the north-west of Mumbai in Arabian Sea. About 60% of the total crude petroleum produced in India is extracted from Mumbai High.
- Since 1976, the ship named ‘Sagar Samrat’ was called from Japan to extract the oil from deep oceanic part of this region. Hence, this field is also called as ‘Sagar Samrat’.
- Cambay Basin: This basin lies in the State of Gujarat and major oil-wells are Ankleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Kosamba, Lunaj, Dhaka, Nawagam and Sobhasan. Gujarat is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in India.
- There are certain areas with known reserves of mineral oil, but where commercial production is not carried out. These areas include:
- Rajasthan (Jaisalmer district)
- Kaveri basin
- Krishna-Godavari basin
- Andaman Islands
- Foothills of Bengal Himalayas
- Ganga valley
- Tripura-Nagaland fold
- Some recently discovered oil-fields include:
- South Heera, Neelam, Gandhar Phase II, Panna and Mukta in the Mumbai High basin
- Ravva oil field in the offshore of Krishna Godavari basin
- Kaveri basin
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Andamans
- Mangala I & II (oil fields) in Barmer district of Rajasthan. Cairn’s energy of U.K. with ONGC started drilling crude oil in this oil field.
- There are some prospective regions, where the geological structure favours presence of oil reserves. These areas include:
- Kachchh-Saurashtra region in Gujarat
- Kerala-Konkan region
- Mahanadi basin
3. Oil Refining:
Following are the refineries in India:
- Digboi (oldest refinery of India)
- Jamnagar (Reliance, largest refinery of India)
- Essar oil refinery Vadinar, Gujarat
- Bhatinda, Punjab (Mittal Energy and HPCL joint ventures)
- Koyali
- Mumbai (2 refineries)
- Barauni
- Haldia
- Mathura
- Visakhapatnam
- Chennai
- Kochi
- Bongaigaon
- Numaligarh
- Panipat
- Mangalore
- Trombay
- Devgarh (Maharashtra)
- Bangalore
- Paradeep (Orissa)
- Bina (MP)
- Tatipaka (AP)
- Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) was established in 1956 for searching the other probable mineral oil regions and their reserves survey while Oil India Limited (O.I.L) was established in 1959 for searching the oil regions and its reserves and their development in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
- ONGC has started its ‘Sagar Samriddhi’ project to search for oil in deep sea with the help of its fifth generation ultra-modern drill-ship ‘Belford Dolphin’, which is capable of drilling upto a depth of 3000 m under water.
4. Natural Gas resource:
- Over 3/4th of the production of natural gas comes from the Mumbai High. Gujarat accounts roughly for 10% of gas production.
Distribution of free gas resources:
Natural gas in the free form is derived from the following regions:
- The largest reserves come from the offshore Mumbai High
- Cambay basin in Gujarat
- Tripura
- Kaveri offshore basin in Tamil Nadu
- Andhra Pradesh
- Tanot in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan
- Krishna Godavari Basin (K-G Basin) Reliance Petroleum
5.IRON ORE :
Iron ore is a basic mineral resource used for the production of iron and steel, which are the backbone of industrial development. India is one of the largest producers of iron ore in the world, and most of its reserves are found in the Peninsular Plateau region
TYPES OF IRON ORE :
- Best quality iron ore
- Iron content: 60–70%
- Red colour
- India mainly exports hematite
- Highest iron content (~70–72%)
- Magnetic properties
- Black colour
- Requires beneficiation before use
- Hydrated iron oxide
- Yellowish-brown colour
- Lower iron content (~40–60%)
- Carbonate ore
- Least used
- Iron content: 30–40%
Major Iron Ore Belts in India:
- Odisha–Jharkhand Belt (Largest)
- Important mines: Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj (Odisha), Singhbhum (Jharkhand)
- Produces high-grade hematite
- Durg–Bastar–Chandrapur Belt
- States: Chhattisgarh & Maharashtra
- Important mines: Bailadila (Bastar)
- Known for high-quality ore (export quality)
- Bellary–Chitradurga–Chikkamagaluru–Tumakuru Belt
- State: Karnataka
- Important areas: Bellary, Hospet
- Mixture of hematite & magnetite
- Maharashtra–Goa Belt
- Important mines: Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), Goa
- Ore is of low grade but easily exportable
6. Manganese:
- This is one of the major raw materials used in iron and steel industry and it is found in the sedimentary rocks of Dharwar Era. Its major ores are Sillomalin and Bronite. It is also extracted from the ores like Pyrolusite, Manganite, Rhodochrocite, etc.
- India is the fifth largest manganese producing country in the world and it has world’s second largest reserves of manganese ore next only to Zimbabwe. About 1/5th of the world’s deposits of manganese are found in India.
- The major manganese regions are – Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj in Odisha, Balaghat and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, Singhbhum in Jharkhand, Udaipur and Banswara in Rajasthan and Goa
7. Bauxite (Aluminium):
- Aluminium is extracted from the Bauxite ores and it is mainly used in aluminium refractories, aircraft, automobile industry and the chemical industry. Although extraction of aluminium is a power-intensive process, aluminium is fast replacing steel in industries.
- Presently, India has the sixth largest Bauxite reserves (4%) of the world. In terms of Bauxite reserve, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat stand first, second and third respectively.
8. Copper:
• Its major ores are – Sulphide ore (Chalcopyrite, Chalcocite, Bornite), Oxide ores (Cuprite) and Carbonate ores (Malachite and Edurite). The red and brown coloured copper is largely used in electrical activities because it is a good conductor of electricity.
• Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of copper quantitatively yet Rajasthan stands first in value point of view.
• The major copper producing regions are Singhbhum in Jharkhand; Jhunjhunu, Bhilwara, Alwar and Udaipur in Rajasthan; Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh; Guntur and Nellore districts in Andhra Pradesh. The Khetri Mine in Rajasthan has been a major copper extracting region since the age of Indus valley civilization.
• Jharkhand & Bihar: The Singhbhum district of Jharkhand has the largest copper ore reserves in Asia. Other districts having copper ore reserves are Hazaribagh, Santhal Parganas, Gaya and Palamu.
• Rajasthan: Khetri belt (oldest copper mine of India) which includes the Singhana area in Jhunjhunu district and Kho-Dariba area in the Alwar district. Besides these, copper is also mined in Delwara-Keroli in Udaipur and Aguncha-Rampur in Bhilwara.
• M.P. & Chhattisgarh: Balaghat and recently, reserves have been discovered in Malanjkhand also. M.P. is the largest producer of Copper now.
• Andhra Pradesh: Khammam, Guntur, Nellore and Kurnool.
• Karnataka: Chitradurga and Hassan.
• Maharashtra: Chandrapur belt.
9. Diamond:
• Diamond is the purest form of carbon and is the hardest element found in the nature. The world famous Kohinoor diamond was extracted from the Golconda Mines in Andhra Pradesh.
• At present, Madhya Pradesh is the most important state in terms of diamond extracting. Here, the major diamond mines are in Panna and Satna districts. In India, Mumbai is the largest market of diamond.
• Surat (Gujarat) is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre of the world.
• Kimbarley in South Africa has the world’s largest reserves of Diamond but in terms of diamond jewellery, Botswana holds first position.
10. Gold:
• Gold is considered as a precious metal and it is found in the form of veins of metamorphic rocks and the igneous rocks.
• There are important gold fields in the country:
- Kolar gold fields in Kolar district (Karnataka),Ramgiri anantapur AndhraPradesh
11. Uranium:
• Its major ores are Pitchblende, Somerskite and Thorenite. In India, Uranium is found in the rocks of Dharwar and Archean series, Pigmetite, Monazite sands and cheralite.
• Uranium is mainly found in Jadugoda mine of Jharkhand. The other regions where it is found are Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan etc. Recent discoveries of Uranium took place in Domiasat (Meghalaya), Ladakh and Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh.
• Australia has the largest reserve of Uranium worldwide but productionwise Canada holds first position
12. Gypsum:
• In India, Rajasthan (90%) is the largest producer of Gypsum and largest producing region is Hanumangarh district in Rajasthan.
• Gypsum is used in production of fertilizers, Cement, Sulpher etc and it is found in the sedimentary rocks.
• The other districts where gypsum is found are Bikaner, Jodhpur, Nagpur and Jaisalmer. Also, gypsum is produced in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir and Kutchchh district in Gujarat. The other regions which are important with the point of view of gypsum mining are Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, and Chengalpet in Tamil Nadu.
13. Graphite:
• It is the form of carbon and it is also called as ‘Black Lead’ or ‘Plumbgo’. It is used in making lead of pencils and as a moderator in Atomic Reactors. Its major producing states are Jharkhand, Odisha (Kalahandi) and Andhra Pradesh.
Major Exporters are:
- China
- India
- Brazil
14. Tin:
• Its main ore is Cassiterite and Tin is generally used in making sheets, making alloys and in soldering industry. India has the limited reserves of Tin and almost all tin reserves in India are limited to Bastar district of Chhattisgarh which is also the only tin producing region of India
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