Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 10 Social Science Notes Chapter 10 Minerals and Energy Resources
Mineral:
A naturally occurring substance with definite chemical composition is called mineral.
Types of Minerals
Metallic Minerals: When a mineral contains some metals, it is called metallic minerals. Metallic minerals are further divided into ferrous and non-ferrous minerals.
- Ferrous Minerals: When a mineral mainly contains iron, it is called ferrous mineral, e.g. iron ore, chromite, pyrite, tungsten, cobalt, etc.
- Non-ferrous Minerals: When a mineral does not contain iron, it is called non-ferrous mineral, e.g. gold, copper, silver, zinc, bauxite, magnesium, tin, etc.
Non-metallic Minerals: When a mineral does not contain metals, it is called non-metallic minerals, e.g. limestone, dolomite, mica, gypsum, etc.
Energy Minerals: If a mineral can provide heat and energy, it is called energy mineral. It is of two types. .
- Fuels: A mineral which can be used as fuel, e.g. coal, petroleum and natural gas.
- Nuclear power mineral: These minerals are utilized for generating nuclear power, e.g. uranium, thorium, beryllium, ilmenite, etc.
Main Minerals in India
Iron Ore:
Iron ore comes from igneous rocks. India is the second largest country of iron ore deposits after Russia. Five types of iron ores are found in India and they are magnetite, hematite, ciderite and literate.
Iron Ore In India
- Odisha: Odisha has 30% of the country’s iron ore deposits and it produces about 28% of iron in India. Deposits of hematite iron ore are present in Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts. Gurumahisini, Sulempat and Badam hills of Mayurbhanj district, Baspani, Thakurani and Kiruburu of Keonjhar district are the main mines of iron in Odisha.
- Chhattisgarh: This is the third largest producer of iron in India. Chattisgarh has 16% of iron ore deposits in India and it contributes 15.02% to total iron production. Deposits of hematite ore are present in Bastar, Durg, Dantewada, Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon districts.
- Goa: This is the fourth largest state in terms of iron production in India. Goa contributes 13.15% to total iron production in India. This state has deposits of Limonite, Laterite, and Ciderite (low quality iron ore mixed with manganese). Deposits of iron ores are found in Pirna, Adel, Aneda, Kadnem, Surla, Tosilla and Borgador. ‘
- Jharkhand: This is the fifth largest state in terms of iron ore deposit in India, and contributes 10.10% to total iron production. Deposits of hematite and magnetite ores are found in Singhbhum and Palamu districts. Noamundi, Gua and Daltonganj are the major mines.
Copper:
India has just 0.1% of copper deposit of the world. About 95% copper in India comes from Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat and Betul), Jharkhand (Singhbhum, Hajaribagh and Palamu), Rajasthan (Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Rajsamand, Bhilwara and Udaipur), Andhra Pradesh (Guntur and Kurnool) and Karnataka (Chitradurga).
Bauxite:
Bauxite is found in those rocks of Dharwar and Vindhyachal which contain less amount of lava. India is the fifth largest country in terms of bauxite deposit in the world. About 95% of bauxite deposit of India is present in Odisha (Koraput and Kahalandi), Jharkhand (Ranchi, Palamu, Giridih, Lohardagga), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat, Katni, Jabalpur), Gujarat (Kheda, Jamnagar, Junagarh and Kachh), Chhattisgarh (Sarguja, Raipur and Bilaspur), Maharashtra (Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Pune), Karnataka, Goa and Tamil Nadu.
Mica:
India is the largest producer of mica in the world with 70 to 80% contribution to the world’s production. Mica is used in electrical gadgets and machines, aircraft industry and in military gears. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of mica followed by Rajasthan and Jharkhand.
Lead and Zinc:
These minerals are found in the form of galena ore in sedimentary rocks of the Aravali range. Zinc ore is used for making dry battery and for rust proofing. Lead is used for making bars, military gears, rail engine, etc. 95% of zinc & lead deposits are found Chittor, Rajsamand, Bhilwara and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan.
Energy Resources
Coal:
Coal is divided into following types on the basis of percentage of carbon in it.
- Anthracite: 80 – 90% carbon
- Bituminous: 75 – 80% carbon
- Lignite: 35 – 50% carbon
- Peat: 15 – 35% carbon
In India 98.5% of coal deposit (which contributes 99% production) is present in sedimentary rocks of the Gondwana epoch. These deposits are present in the Mahanadi basin, Damodar basin, Son basin, Godavari-Wardha and in the basins of Brahmani, Indravati, Koel and Panch rivers.
India also has deposits of low grade lignite coal from tertiary period. These deposits were made around 15 to 60 lakh years ago. Deposits of lignite coal are found in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Rajasthan.
Petroleum:
Petroleum is a fossil fuel which is present below natural gas. Deposits of petroleum are found in the Brahmaputra and Surma basins of Assam, Sunderban Delta in West Bengal, east coast of Odisha, Surashtra & Rajasthan, Terai belt of Himalaya, mid-Gujarat, Mumbai Basin .Godavari and Cauveri Delta, etc. About 90% of total petroleum production comes from Maharashtra, Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Nuclear Energy Minerals
Uranium – 338, 235 and 233, Plutonium 239, thorium, Beryllium and Zircon are used for obtaining nuclear energy. One ounce of uranium can give energy equivalent to energy from one metric tonne of coal. Radioactive minerals are costly but electricity generated by nuclear power plant his highly economical.
Rajasthan is called the ‘museum of minerals’. Rajasthan has deposits of 79 types of minerals. Out of which 44 are macro-minerals, 23 are micro minerals and 12 are secondary minerals. In terms of availability of minerals, Rajasthan is the third largest state after Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.