Chapter 7

MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES

Facts that matter

•minerals play a crucial role in the industrial growth and economic development of a country.

Types of Minerals

1. Metallic mineral:- the metallic minerals have two types :

Ferrous (iron manganese - contains iron) , Non - Ferrous ( copper ,bauxite, gold silver - doesn't contains iron)

Characteristics of Minerals

•Unevenly distributed over space.

•There is inverse relationship between quality & quantity of minerals.

•All minerals are exhaustible over time.

•Can't replenished immediately-takes a long time to form.

Agencies in Mineral Exploration

•Geographical survey of India

•Oil & Natural Gas Commission

•Mineral Exploration Corporation

•National mineral Deptt. Corp.

•Bharat Gold Mines Ltd.

•Indian Bureau of Mines

•Hindustan Copper Ltd.

•National Aluminium Co. Ltd.

•Dept. of Mining & Geology in various states

Distribution of Minerals in India

•Most metallic minerals occur in peninsular plateau-in old crystalline rocks.

•There are three broad belts of minerals concentration:

1. North-Eastern Plateau Region

•Covers Chhotanagpur, Odisha Plateau, West Bengal & parts of Chhattisgarh.

•Has minerals like iron, coal, manganese, mica, bauxite

2. South Western Plateau :

•Extends over Karnataka, Goa & contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala

•Rich in ferrous metals & bauxite

•Contains high grade iron, manganese & limestone.

•Kerala-has monazite, thorium and bauxite clay.

•Goa has Iron ore deposits.

3. North Western Region

•Extends along Aravali in Rajasthan & part of Gujarat & minerals are associated with Dharwar system of rocks. Copper, Zinc are major minerals.

•Rajasthan-in building stones i.e., granite, sandstone, marble, gypsum, dolomite, limestone.

•Gujarat-Petroleum deposits. Salt in both Rajasthan and Gujarat.

4. Other Regions

•Himalayan belt-copper, lead, zinc, cobalt both in Eastern & Western parts. Assam-oil deposits. Offshore areas-mineral oil & gas.

Ferrous Minerals

•Iron one, manganese, chromite etc. provide a strong base of industrial development.

•India is well placed in both reserve & production.

Non-Ferrous Minerals

•India has poor reserve of non- ferrous minerals-except bauxite.

Non - Metallic Minerals

•Mica is important among these. Limestone, dolomite, phosphate are extracted for local consumption.

Energy Resources

•Essential for power generation

•Required by agriculture, industry, transport & other sectors of the economy.

•Fossil Fuels & nuclear energy are conventional sources of energy.

•Coal is mainly used in the generation of thermal power and smelting of iron ore. It occurs in rock sequences mainly of two geological ages, namely Gondwana and tertiary deposits. About 80 per cent of the coal deposits in India is of bituminous type and is of non-coking grade. Tertiary coals occur in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

•Petroleum is used 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. There are two types of refineries in India: (a) field based (Digboi) and (b) market based (Barauni). There are 18 refineries in India.

•The Gas Authority of India Limited was set up in 1984 as a public sector undertaking to transport and market natural gas. It is obtained alongwith oil in all the oilfields but exclusive reserves have been located along the eastern coast as well as Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan and offshore wells in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

•Important minerals used for the generation of nuclear energy are uranium and thorium. Uranium deposits occur in the Dharwar system of rocks.

•Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1948. But development took place at e rapid rate after establishment of Atomic Energy Institute at Trombay in 1954. It 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).

•There are some non-conventional sources of energy which include: Solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, tidal and wave energy, geo-thermal energy, bio energy but thev have limited uses

•The challenge of sustainable development requires integration of quest for economic development with environmental concerns. There is an urgent need to conserve the resources.

Conservation of Mineral Resources

•Traditional methods of resource are result into generating enornmous quantity of waste as well as create other environmental problems.

•Sustainable development is based on protection of resources for future generation.

•The non-conventional sources of energy are in exhaustible and should be promoted for wider use to replace exhaustible sources.

•Use of scrap for metallic minerals will enable recycling of metals (copper, lead, zinc, in which we have poor resources).

•Use of substitutes for scarce metals will reduce their consumption.

•Export of strategic and scarce minerals should be limited, so that their resources can last for a longer duration.

We hope CBSE/MP Board Class 12th "Geography Part B " Chapter 7 "Mineral and Energy Resources" will help you.

Written By - HIMANSHU SHARMA