Minerals and Energy Resources Test - 5

Ballari- Chitradurga- Chikkamagaluru Tumakuru belt in Karnataka has large reserves of iron ore. The Kudremukh mines located in the Western Ghats of Karnataka are a 100 per cent export unit.Kudremukh deposits are known to be one of the largest in the world.

Maharashtra-Goa belt includes the state of Goa and Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Though, the ores are not of very high quality, yet they are efficiently exploited. Iron ore is exported through Marmagao port.

Manganese is mainly used in the manufacturing of steel and ferro-manganese alloy. Nearly 10 kg of manganese is required to manufacture one tonne of steel. It is also used in manufacturing bleaching powder, insecticides and paints.

India is critically deficient in the reserve and production of copper.  The Balaghat mines in Madhya Pradesh, Khetri mines in Rajasthan and Singhbhum district of Jharkhand are leading producers of copper. In addition, there are small deposits in Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

India’s bauxite deposits are mainly found in the Amarkantak plateau, Maikal hills and the plateau region of Bilaspur-Katni.Odisha was the largest bauxite producing state in India with 34.97 Percent of the country's total production in 2009-10.

After the discovery of aluminium Emperor Napoleon III wore buttons and hooks on his clothes made of aluminium and served food to his more illustrious guests in aluminium utensils and the less honourable ones were served in gold and silver utensils. Thirty years after this incident aluminium bowls were most common with the beggars in Paris.

Mica is a mineral made up of a series of plates or leaves. It splits easily into thin sheets. These sheets can be so thin that a thousand can be layered into a mica sheet of a few centimeters high.Mica can be clear,black,green,redyellow or brown.

In Rajasthan, the major mica producing area is around Ajmer. Nellore mica belt of Andhra Pradesh is also an important producer in the country.Mica deposits are found in the northern edge of the ChotaNagpur plateau.

Limestone is found in association with rocks composed of calcium carbonates or calcium and magnesium carbonates. It is found in sedimentary rocks of most geological formations. Limestone is the basic raw material for the cement industry and essential for smelting iron ore in the blast furnace.

The dust and noxious fumes inhaled by miners make them vulnerable to pulmonary diseases. The ongoing inhalation of coal dust can cause what is colloquially known as ‘miner’s lung’ or ‘black lung’.