Minerals of India
NCERT Class 8 • Resources and Development • Chapter "Mineral and Power Resources" | NCERT Class 10 • Contemporary India II • Chapter "Minerals and Energy Resources"
Minerals of India
A mineral is a naturally occurring substance with a definite chemical composition, found in rocks as ores. Minerals are the base of modern industry, but they are exhaustible and take millions of years to form, so their use has to be planned. India's mineral wealth is concentrated in a few well defined belts.
Types and Occurrence
- Metallic minerals contain metal; they are ferrous like iron ore and manganese, or non ferrous like copper, bauxite and lead.
- Non metallic minerals include mica, limestone, gypsum and salt.
- Energy minerals are coal, petroleum and natural gas.
- Minerals occur in veins and lodes in igneous and metamorphic rock, in beds and layers in sedimentary rock, and as placer deposits in river sands.
- The north-eastern plateau belt covering Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh is the richest mineral belt of India.
- The south-western belt of Karnataka and Goa has iron ore, and the north-western belt of Rajasthan and Gujarat has copper, zinc and salt.
Important Minerals
- Iron ore is the backbone of industry; magnetite is the finest grade with very high iron content, while haematite is the most used.
- Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka are the leading iron ore states.
- Manganese is used in making steel and in bleaching powder; Odisha and Madhya Pradesh are important producers.
- Bauxite is the ore of aluminium, found in Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
- Copper is malleable and a good conductor, used in electrical cables; Rajasthan's Khetri and Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat are known sources.
- Mica splits into thin sheets and resists heat, so it is used in electronics; the Koderma belt of Jharkhand and Bihar's Gaya belt are famous for it.
- Limestone is the raw material for cement and is essential in the blast furnace.
- Mining has serious costs: dust and water pollution, land subsidence and health risks for workers.
- Recycling metals and improving extraction efficiency stretch the life of known reserves.
| Mineral | Type | Main Use |
|---|---|---|
| Iron ore | Ferrous metallic | Iron and steel |
| Manganese | Ferrous metallic | Steel, bleaching powder |
| Bauxite | Non ferrous metallic | Aluminium |
| Mica | Non metallic | Electrical and electronics |
| Limestone | Non metallic | Cement, steel making |
Ore — a rock from which a mineral can be extracted profitably.
Hindi me samjhein
अयस्क वह चट्टान है जिससे खनिज लाभप्रद ढंग से निकाला जा सके। हर खनिज युक्त चट्टान अयस्क नहीं होती - लाभ और मात्रा दोनों देखने पड़ते हैं।
Exam me kaise aata hai
- Bauxite is the ore of — aluminium
- The finest grade of iron ore is — magnetite
- Koderma belt is famous for — mica
- Khetri in Rajasthan is known for — copper
UPSC/State PSC ke liye
- Mineral belts follow geological structure, which is why the old crystalline plateau is rich while the young alluvial plains are almost bare.
- Mineral conservation means better recovery from the ore, recycling of metals, and using substitutes, not simply mining less.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Bauxite is an iron ore | Bauxite is the ore of aluminium | ✓
✗ The Ganga plain is rich in minerals | The plateau region is rich; the alluvial plain is poor in minerals | ✓
✗ Mica is a metallic mineral | Mica is a non metallic mineral | ✓
Ek nazar me
- Minerals: metallic (ferrous, non ferrous), non metallic and energy.
- Richest belt: Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal plateau.
- Magnetite is the finest iron ore; bauxite gives aluminium.
- Mica from Koderma; limestone for cement and steel.