Minerals and Energy Resources Test - 4

Most of the minerals in India are nationalized and their extraction is possible only after obtaining due permission from the government. But in most of the tribal areas of the north-east India, minerals are owned by individuals or communities in Meghalaya.Coal mining in Jowai and Cherapunjee is done by a family member in the form of a long narrow tunnel ,known as Rat hole mining.

 Most of the minerals in India are nationalized and their extraction is possible only after obtaining due permission from the government.But in most of the tribal areas of the north-east India, minerals are owned by individuals or communities .Coal mining in Jowai  and Cherapunjee(Meghalaya) is done by family member.

India is fortunate to have fairly rich and varied mineral resources. However, these are unevenly distributed. Broadly speaking, peninsular rocks contain most of the reserves of coal, metallic minerals, mica and many other non-metallic minerals.Sedimentary rocks on the weatern and eastern flanks of the peninsula,in Gujarat and Assam have most of the petroleum deposits.Rajasthan with rock systems of the peninsula,has reserves of many non-ferrous minerals.

To meet the demand, a choice has to be made between a number of possible options. When this is done a mineral ‘deposit’ or ‘reserve’ turns into a mine.

Ferrous minerals account for about three-fourths of the total value of the production of metallic minerals. They provide a strong base for the development of metallurgical industries.India exports substantial quantitiesof ferrous minerals after meeting her internal demands.

Iron ore is the basic mineral and the backbone of industrial development. India is endowed with fairly abundant resources of iron ore..Iron is the backbone of the industrial development of a country. Iron and steel is the basic industry and it provides raw materials, all types of machinery to run other industries.

Magnetite is the finest iron ore with a very high content of iron up to 70 per cent. It has excellent magnetic qualities, especially valuable in the electrical industry. Hematite ore is the most important industrial iron ore in terms of the quantity used, but has a slightly lower iron content than magnetite. (50-60 per cent).

Kudre in Kannada means horse. The highest peak in the western ghats of Karnataka resembles the face of a horse. The Bailadila hills look like the hump of an ox, and hence its name.

There are four major iron belts in India.Namely:Odisha-Jharkhand belt,Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt,Ballari-Chitradurg-Chikkamagalury-Tumakuru belt and Maharashtra-Goa belt.

Odisha is the largest producer of manganese ores in India. It accounted for one-third of the country’s total production in 2000-01.