Minerals and Energy Resources

What is a Mineral?
Mineral is defined as a “homogenous, naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure.” Minerals
are found in varied forms in nature, ranging from the hardest diamond to the softest talc. Rocks are combinations
of homogeneous substances called minerals. Lime stone consists of a single mineral. Majority of rocks consist of
several minerals. About 2000 minerals have been identified in rocks.

Mode of Occurrence of Minerals

Minerals are usually found in “ores”. The term ore is used to describe an accumulation of any mineral mixed with
other elements. Minerals generally occur in the following forms:

1. In igneous and metamorphic rocks, minerals may occur in the cracks, crevices (gap),
faults or joints.
 Smaller occurrences are called veins and larger is called lodes.
 It is formed when minerals in liquid or molten or gaseous forms are forced
upward through cavities towards the earth’s surface. They cool and solidify as
they rise up.
 Tin, copper, zinc and lead are obtained from veins and lodes.
2. In sedimentary rocks, a number of minerals occur in beds or layers.

 They have been created as a result of deposition, accumulation and concentration in horizontal
strata (layers).
 Coal and some forms of iron ore are seen here and it is formed as a result of long periods under
heat and pressure.
 Another group is gypsum, potash salt and sodium salt. It is formed as a result of
evaporation in arid regions.
3. Third form involves the decomposition of surface rocks and the removal of soluble constituents also
forms the minerals. It leaves a residual mass of weathered material containing ores.
 Bauxite is formed like that.
4. Minerals also occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley base and the base of hills.
 These deposits are called placer deposits
 It contains minerals which are not perished by water
 Example gold, silver, tin and platinum
5. The ocean waters contain vast quantities of minerals.
 Example: Salt, magnesium, and bromine

Ferrous Minerals
Ferrous minerals account for about three-fourths of the total value of the production of metallic
minerals.
Iron Ore

1. India is endowed with fairly abundant resources of iron ore.

2. It is the basic mineral and backbone of industrial development
3. Magnetite is the finest iron ore. It contains iron, up to 70%. It has excellent
magnetic qualities.
4. It is valuable in electrical industry.
5. Hematite ore is the most important industrial iron ore in terms of quantity used.
6. It contains 50 to 60% iron.

The major iron ore belts in India are:

1. Odisha-Jharkhand belt. High grade hematite is found in Badampahar mines in Mayurbhanj and
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 Kedujhar districts and in Gua and Noamundi in Singbhum district of Jarkhand.
2. Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt. It is in Chattisgrah amd MH. Very high grade hematites are found
in Bastar district of Chattisgrah. There are 14 deposits of super high grade of hematite iron ore. It
is best for steel making it is exported to Japan and South Korea from Vishakhapattanam port.
3. Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru-Tumakuru belt. It is in Karnataka. It is located in western
ghats of [Link] deposits are known to be one of the largest in the world. Here
ore is transported to port near Mangluru in slurry from through a pipe line.
4. Maharashtra-Goa belt. In MH it is mainly seen in Ratnagiri district. This ore is not of very high
quality. It is exported through Marmagao port
Manganese

1. It is mainly used in the manufacturing of steel and ferro-manganese alloy.

2. Nearly 10 kg of manganese is required to manufacture 1 tonne of steel.
3. It is also used in manufacturing bleaching powder, insecticides and paints.
4. Odisha is the largest producer of manganese ores in India.

Non-Ferrous Minerals
Non-ferrous minerals include copper, bauxite, lead, zinc and gold. These minerals play a vital role
in a number of metallurgical, engineering and electrical industries.
Copper

1. Malleable (flexible), ductile (elastic) and good conductor of heat and electricity.
2. Mainly used in electrical cables, electronics and chemical industries.
3. The Balaghat mines in Madhya Pradesh, Khetri mines in Rajasthan and Singhbhum
district of Jharkhand are leading producers of copper.

Bauxite

1. Bauxite deposits are formed by the decomposition of a wide variety of rocks rich in
aluminum silicates.
2. Aluminum is obtained from bauxite. Aluminum combines the strength of metals
like iron with extreme lightness and great malleability.
3. Deposits are mainly found in the Amarkantak plateau (MP), Maikal hills and the plateau
region of Bilaspur-Katni.
4. Odisha was the largest bauxite producing state in Indi.

Non-Metallic Minerals

1. Mica is a mineral made up of a series of plates or leaves. It can be clear, black, green,
red, yellow or brown.
2. Mica is the most indispensable (essential) minerals used in electric and electronic industries.
3. It has excellent di-electric strength, low power loss factor, insulating properties and
resistance to high voltage.
4. Mica deposits are found in the northern edge of the Chota Nagpur plateau.
5. Koderma Gaya of Hazaribagh belt of Jarkhand is the leading producer.

Rock Minerals

1. Limestone is found in rocks composed of calcium carbonates or calcium and magnesium

carbonates.
2. It is the basic raw material for the cement industry and essential for smelting iron ore in
the blast furnace.
3. It is found in sedimentary rocks.
Impacts of mining on health and environment
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 1. Mines produce large amount of dust and noxious (harmful) fumes. It can create a lot
of pulmonary diseases.
2. The risk of collapsing mines roof, flood and fires are high in mines especially in
coal mines.
3. Water in the region gets contaminated due to mining.
4. Dumping of waste and slurry lead to degradation of land, soil.
5. It leads to water pollution in streams and river.

Conservation of Minerals
Minerals are a non-renewable resource. It takes thousands of years for the formation and
concentration of minerals. Continued extraction of ores leads to the depletion of minerals. So, it’s
important to take the necessary steps so that mineral resources can be used in a planned and
sustainable manner.

1. Improved technologies need to be evolved to allow use of low grade ores at low costs.

2. Recycling of metals, using scrap metals and other substitutes are steps.

Energy Resources
Energy resources can be classified as

1. Conventional Sources: It includes firewood; cattle dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural
gas and electricity.
2. Non-Conventional Sources: It includes solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and atomic
energy

Conventional Sources
Firewood; cattle dung cake
It is most common in rural areas. It meets about 70% of energy requirement in rural households. Use of
firewood is reduced due to deforestation and use of cow dung is discouraged because it is good for agricultural
purposes.
Energy Coal:

1. It is the most abundantly available fossil fuel.

2. It is used for power generation, to supply energy to the industry as well as for domestic
needs.
3. It is formed due to the compression of plant material over million years.
4. It is found in varied forms depending on –degrees of compression and depth and time
of burial.
a. Peat- decaying of plants in swamps produce peat. It has low carbon and high
moisture contents and low heating capacity. It is found in Neyveli TN and it is used
for electricity generation.
b. Lignite is a low grade brown coal, which is soft with high moisture content.
c. Bituminous coal.- Coal that has been buried deep and subjected to increased
temperatures is bituminous coal. Most popular in commercial use. Metallurgical
coal is high grade of bituminous coal. It is mainly used to smelting iron in
furnaces.
d. Anthracite is the highest quality of hard coal.
5. In India coal occurs in rock series of two geological year-
a. Gondwana- 200 million years in age and 55 million years old. It is found in Damopdar valley ( West
Bengal. Jharkhand), Jharia, Ranigani, Bokaro, Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys. It is a
metallurgical coal.
b. Tertiary deposits- 50 million years. It is found in North East states like Meghalaya, Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
6. Coal is bulky material and loses its weight as it is reduced to ash. So heavy industries and thermal power
stations are located near the coalfields.

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 Petroleum

1. It provides fuel for heat and lighting, lubricants for machinery and raw materials for a
number of manufacturing industries.
2. It is the next major energy source after coal in India.
3. Petroleum refineries act as a “nodal industry” 1 for synthetic textile, fertilizer
and numerous chemical industries.
4. Most of the occurrences of Indian petroleum are associated with anticlines and
fault traps in the rock formation of the tertiary age. 2
5. Petroleum is also found in traps between porous 3 and non porous rocks.
6. Mumbai High – it produces 63% of Indian Petrolium
7. Gujarat- 18%. . Ankeleshwar is the most important place
8. Assam – 16%. Assam is the oldest oil producing state in India. Digboi, Naharkatiya, Moran Hugrijan are
the important places.

Natural Gas

1. Natural gas is an important clean energy resource. It is considered an environment-

friendly fuel because of low carbon dioxide emissions.
2. It is seen with or without association with petroleum.
3. It is a energy resource and a raw material in the petrochemical industry.
4. The power and fertilizer industries are the key users of natural gas.
5. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG ) is used in vehicles to replace liquid fuels.
6. Large reserves of natural gas have been discovered in the Krishna-Godavari basin, Mumbai High, Gulf of
Cambay, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

7. The 1700 km long Hazira- Vijaipur- Jagdishpur gas pipe line links Mumbai High and Bassien with
fertilizer, power and industrial complexes in western and northern India.
Electricity
Electricity is generated mainly in 2 ways:
1. By running water which drives hydro turbines to generate Hydro Electricity. It is a
renewable resource of energy. India has a number of multi-purpose projects like the
Bhakra Nangal, Damodar Valley Corporation, the Kopili Hydel Project.
2. By burning other fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas to drive turbines to
produce Thermal Power. It uses non-renewable fossil fuels for generating electricity.
There are 310 termal powers plants in India.

Non-Conventional Sources of Energy

The renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind, tide, biomass and energy from waste
material are called Non-Conventional Energy Sources.
Nuclear or Atomic Energy
1. Nuclear Energy is obtained by altering the structure of atoms.
2. When such alteration is made, much energy is released in the form of heat and this is used to generate
electric power.
3. Uranium and Thorium are used for generating atomic or nuclear power. It is available in Jharkhand and
Aravalli ranges of Rajastan. Monazite sands of Kerala are also rich in Thorium.
Solar Energy

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Nodal industries are those industries around which other supporting industries develop. These peripheral industries manufacture the goods
required by the nodal industries. Iron and steel and petroleum industries are nodal industries.
2
Tertiary Period, former official geologic time lasting from approximately 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. It is the traditional name
for the first of two periods in the 66 million years ago to the present
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Sedimentary rocks often contain small holes called pores which can contain water or other fluids.
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1. Solar energy is produced by the Sun’s light. Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight
directly into electricity.
2. It becomes popular in rural and remote areas.
Wind Power
1. Wind Energy or Power is the use of wind to generate electricity. Wind turbines are used for
this purpose.
2. The largest wind farm cluster is located in Tamil Nadu from Nagarcoil to Madurai.
3. AP, KA, GT, KA, KL, MH, Lakshsdeep are other places.
Biogas
1. Biogas is a type of biofuel that is naturally produced from the decomposition of organic waste
like shrubs, farm waste, animal and human waste.
2. It is popular in rural areas.
3. Biogas is the most efficient use of cattle dung. It improves the quality of manure. It is known
as gobar gas plants.
Tidal Energy
1. Tidal energy is the form of hydropower that converts the energy obtained from tides into
useful forms of power, mainly electricity.
2. Floodgate dams are built across inlets. During high tide water flows into the inlet and gets
trapped when the gate is closed. After the tide falls outside the flood gate, the water retained
by the floodgate flows back to the sea through a pipe that catrries through a power generating
turbine.
3. In India, the Gulf of Khambhat, the Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat on the western coast and
Gangetic delta in Sunderban regions of West Bengal provide ideal conditions for utilising
tidal energy.
Geo-Thermal Energy
1. When heat and electricity are produced by using the heat from the interior of the earth, it is
known as Geo-Thermal Energy.
2. Earth grows progressively hotter with increasing depth. Where the geothermal gradient is
high, high temperature is found at shallow depths. Ground water in such areas absorbes heat
from the rocks and becomes hot. When it raises to the earth’s surface, it turns into steam.
This steam is used to drive turbine and generate electricity.
3. In India, geothermal energy is harnessed from Parvati valley near Manikarn in Himachal
Pradesh and from Puga Valley, Ladakh.

Conservation of Energy Resources

Every sector of the national economy – agriculture, industry, transport, commercial and domestic
– needs inputs of energy. There is an urgent need to develop a sustainable path for energy
development. Here are some ways that each one of us can contribute to save energy resources:

 Using public transport systems instead of individual vehicles

 Switching off electricity when not in use
 Using power-saving devices.
 Using non-conventional sources of energy