Minerals And Energy Resources Notes in English Class 10 Geography Chapter 5 Book-Contemporary India

 

What is a mineral?

• According to geologists, a mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous substance that has a definite internal structure. 

• Minerals are found in many forms in nature, which include hard diamonds and soft limestone.

• Rocks are compounds of elements similar to minerals. 

• Some rocks, such as limestone, are composed of only one mineral; but most rocks are a mixture of several minerals in varying proportions. 

• More than 2000 minerals have been identified, but most rocks have abundance of only a few minerals.

• A particular mineral that is a combination of certain elements. 

• The formation of those elements is the result of the physical and chemical conditions prevailing at that time. 

• As a result of this, various colours, hardness, shine, density and various crystals are found in minerals. 

• Geologists classify minerals based on these characteristics.

Classification of Minerals :

1. Metallic minerals 

• Ferrous metals: Metals in which traces of iron are found. Such as iron ore, manganese, cobalt minerals etc. 

• Non-ferrous metals: Metals whose traces are not found. Such as copper, bauxite etc. 

• Precious minerals: These are very precious because they are available in large quantities. Like gold, silver, platinum etc. 

2. Non-metallic minerals 

Minerals which do not contain metal components are called non-metallic minerals such as mica, salt, potash, sulphur, limestone and sandstone etc. 

3. Energy minerals

Those minerals which provide energy. Such as: coal, petroleum and natural gas etc.

Availability of minerals

• Minerals are found in 'ores'. 

• The term 'ore' is used for the mixture or accumulation of other components or elements in any mineral. 

• Mining has economic importance only when the accumulation of minerals in the ore is in sufficient quantity. 

• The facilities for mining of minerals depend on their construction and structure. 

• The mining facility determines its value. 

Where are minerals found:

1. In igneous and metamorphic rocks, minerals are found in cracks, joints, faults and fissures. Small deposits are found in the form of veins and large deposits are found in the form of layers. 

2. Many minerals are found in many mineral beds or layers of sedimentary rocks. Their formation is the result of deposition, accumulation and compaction in horizontal layers. Coal and some other types of iron ores are formed as a result of extreme heat and pressure over a long period of time. 

3. Another method of formation of minerals is the disintegration of surface rocks. After the erosion of soluble elements of the rocks, residual rocks containing ore remain. Bauxite is formed in this way.

4. Some minerals are also found as alluvial deposits in the sand at the base of the hills and the valley floor. These deposits are known as 'placer deposits'. They usually contain minerals that are not eroded by water. Gold, silver, tin and platinum are the main minerals among these.

5. Ocean water also contains huge amount of minerals but since most of them are widely dispersed, their economic significance is less. 

Rat Hole

• Most of the minerals in India are nationalized and their extraction is possible only after government permission

• But in most tribal areas of North-Eastern India, minerals are owned by individuals and communities. 

• Huge deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone and dolomite are found in Meghalaya. 

• In Jowai and Cherrapunji, coal is mined by family members in a long narrow tunnel called rat hole mining. 

• The National Green Tribunal has declared these activities illegal and recommended that it should be stopped immediately.

• Most of the reserves of coal, metallic minerals, mica and many other non-metallic minerals are stored in the peninsular rocks. 

• Most of the mineral oil deposits are found in the sedimentary rocks of Gujarat and Assam on the western and eastern sides of the peninsula. 

• Many non-ferrous minerals are found in Rajasthan along with the peninsular rock system. 

Ferrous minerals

• Ferrous minerals contribute to three-fourths of the total production value of metallic minerals. 

• These provide a strong base for the development of metal refining industries. 

• India exports a large quantity of metallic minerals after meeting its domestic demand.

Iron Ore

• Iron ore is a basic mineral and the backbone of industrial development. 

• There are abundant resources of iron ore in India. 

• India is rich in high grade ferruginous iron ore. 

• Magnetite is the best type of iron ore in which 70 percent iron content is found. 

• It has excellent magnetic properties, which are especially useful in electrical industries. 

• Hematite is the most important industrial iron ore which is consumed in maximum quantity. But the amount of iron content in it is slightly less than that of magnetite. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Jharkhand are ahead in production of 97 percent. 

The iron ore belts in India are -

• Odisha-Jharkhand Belt:- In Odisha, high quality hematite type iron ore is extracted from Badam Pahad mines in Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts. Hematite ore is mined from Gua and Noamundi in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

• Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur Belt: This belt is found in the states of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. High quality hematite is found in the Bailadila hill ranges in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, in which 14 deposits of iron of this quality are found. The iron ore of these mines is exported to Japan and South Korea from Visakhapatnam port.

• Ballari-Chitradurga, Chikkamagaluru-Tumakuru belt:- A large amount of iron ore is stored in this belt of Karnataka. Kudremukh mines located in the Western Ghats in Karnataka are 100 percent export units. Kudremukh deposits are considered to be one of the largest deposits in the world. 

• Maharashtra-Goa Belt: This belt is located in Goa and Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra state. Although the iron here is not of the best quality, it is exploited efficiently. It is exported from Marmagao port.

Manganese

• Manganese is mainly used in the manufacture of steel. 

• About 10 kg of manganese is required to make one ton of steel. 

• It is used in making bleaching powder, pesticides and paints.

Non-ferrous minerals

• The reserves and production of non-ferrous minerals in India are not very satisfactory. 

• These minerals, which include copper, bauxite, lead and gold, play an important role in metal refining, engineering and power industries. 

copper

• Copper reserves and production in India are critically low. 

• Being malleable, ductile and a good conductor of heat, copper is mainly used in making electrical wires, electronics and chemical industries. 

• Balaghat mines of Madhya Pradesh produce about 52 percent of the country's copper. 

• Singhbhum district of Jharkhand is also a major producer of copper. 

• Khetri mines of Rajasthan were also famous for copper. 

Bauxite

• Most alumina is obtained from bauxite, a clay-like substance 

• Bauxite deposits are formed by the disintegration of a wide variety of rocks rich in aluminium silicates.

• Aluminium is an important metal because it is as strong as iron but is also extremely light and a good conductor.

• High malleability is also found in it. 

• In India, bauxite deposits are mainly found in the Amarkantak plateau, Maikal hills and the plateau region of Bilaspur-Katni.

• Odisha is the largest bauxite producing state in India, with the Panchpatmali deposit in Koraput district being the most important bauxite deposit in the state.

• After the discovery of aluminium, Emperor Napoleon III wore hooks and buttons made of aluminium on his clothes and served meals to his special guests in aluminium utensils, while ordinary guests were served meals in gold and silver utensils. 

Non-metallic minerals

asbestos

• Mica is a mineral that is found in plates or sheets. 

• It can easily split into sheets. These layers can be so thin that a thousand of its layers can fit in a few centimetres height. 

• Mica can be transparent, black, green, red, yellow or brown.

• Due to its high dielectric strength, low coefficient of energy loss, current conducting properties and high voltage resistance, mica is one of the indispensable minerals used in electrical and electronic industries.

• Mica deposits are found on the northern plateau edges of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. 

• Koderma- Gaya- Hazaribagh belt of Bihar-Jharkhand is the leading producer. 

• The main mica producing areas of Rajasthan are around Ajmer. 

• Nellore mica belt of Andhra Pradesh is also an important producing belt of the country.

Rocky minerals

• Limestone Limestone is found in rocks made of calcium or calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. 

• It is mostly found in sedimentary rocks. 

• Limestone is a basic raw material for the cement industry. 

 

Risks/Hazards of Mining

• Workers in mines become victims of lung diseases due to constantly breathing in dust and harmful smoke. 

• Dangers like collapse of mine roofs, floods, fires in coal mines etc. are constant for the mine workers. 

• Water sources get contaminated due to mining in quarry areas. 

• Dumping of waste materials and mineral liquid debris causes degradation of land and soil and increases pollution of streams and rivers.

• To prevent mining from becoming a killer industry, it is essential to implement strict safety regulations and environmental laws.

Conservation of minerals

• We all have heavy dependence of industry and agriculture on mineral deposits and the products manufactured from them.

• Mineable deposits are one percent of the Earth's crust. 

• We are rapidly consuming mineral resources that took millions of years to form and concentrate. 

• The geologic processes of mineral formation are so slow that their rate of recharge is infinitely small compared to their current rate of consumption. 

• That is why mineral resources are limited and non-renewable. 

• Rich mineral deposits are highly valuable assets of our country, but they are short-lived. 

• Continuous excavation of ores increases costs because the quality of minerals deteriorates with increasing depth of excavation.

energy resources

• Energy is required for all activities. 

• Energy is required for cooking, for light and heat, for running vehicles and for operating machines in industries.

• Energy is produced from fuel minerals such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, uranium and electricity. 

Classification of Energy Resources: 

Traditional resources: include wood, cow dung cakes, coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity.

Non-conventional resources  :   include solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and nuclear energy. 

conventional energy sources

• Coal is a fossil fuel found in abundance in India. 

• It provides a significant portion of the country's energy needs. 

• It is used for energy production and to supply energy for industries and domestic needs. 

• India depends mainly on coal to meet its commercial energy needs.

• Coal is formed by the compression of plant material over millions of years. 

• Coal is found in many forms depending on the amount of compression, depth and time of burial. 

Classification of coal

• Anthracite : Hard coal of the highest quality.

• Bituminous: Coal buried deep and affected by high temperature is called bituminous coal. High grade bituminous coal is used in metallurgy and is of special importance in iron smelting.

• Lignite: It is a low grade brown coal. It is soft and has high moisture content. Major deposits of lignite are found in Neyveli in Tamil Nadu and are used for power generation. 

• Peat: Peat is produced from decaying plants in swamps. It has low carbon, high moisture content and low heat capacity. 

Coal in India is found in rock sequences of two major geologic ages 

1. Gondwana 

• Its age is a little over 20 million years. 

• The major resources of Gondwana coal, which is metallurgical coal, are located in Damodar Valley (West Bengal and Jharkhand), Jharia, Raniganj, Bokaro which are important coal areas. Coal deposits are also found in Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha river valleys.

2. Tertiary deposits 

• These are approximately 55 lakh years old. 

• It is found in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

• Using it reduces weight because it turns into ash. This is why heavy industries and thermal power plants are established in or near coal areas.

Petroleum

• After coal, the second major source of energy in India is petroleum or mineral oil. 

• It provides fuel for heat and light, lubricants for machines and raw materials for many manufacturing industries. 

• Oil refineries serve as a node for synthetic textile, fertilizer and numerous chemical industries.

• Most of the petroleum in India is found in the anticline and fault traps of tertiary age rock structures. 

• In regions with folds, anticlines and domes it is found where oil is trapped at the top of the folds. 

• The oil-bearing layer is sandstone through which oil can flow. 

• The intermediate impure layers prevent the oil from rising up or leaking down.

• Petroleum is also found in fault traps between porous and non-porous rocks. 

• Natural gas is lighter and hence it is found above mineral oil.

• Mumbai High, Gujarat and Assam are the major petroleum producing areas in India. 

• Ankleshwar is the most important oil field of Gujarat. 

• Assam is the oldest oil producing state of India. 

• Digboi, Naharkatia and Moran-Hugrijan are the important oil producing areas of this state.

natural gas

• Natural gas is found alongside petroleum deposits and is liberated when crude oil is brought to the surface. 

• It can be used as domestic and industrial fuel. 

• It is used as fuel in the power sector to generate electricity, in industries for heating purpose, as raw material in chemical, petrochemical and fertilizer industries, as transportation fuel and as cooking fuel. 

• With expansion in gas infrastructure and local city gas distribution, natural gas is also emerging as the preferred transportation fuel (CNG) and cooking fuel (LPG) in households. 

• India's major gas reserves are found in the Mumbai High and other associated fields on the west coast, supplemented by fields in the Khambhat Basin. 

• On the east coast – New reserves of natural gas have been discovered in the Krishna-Godavari basin.

• The first 1,700 km long Hazira-Vijaypur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) cross country gas pipeline constructed by GAIL connects Mumbai High and Bassein gas fields with various fertilizer, power and industrial complexes in western and northern India. 

• These gas pipelines accelerated the growth of the Indian gas market. 

• India's gas infrastructure has expanded more than ten-fold from 1700 km to 18,500 km of cross-country pipelines and is expected to soon reach over 34,000 km as a gas grid connecting all gas sources and consumer markets across the country, including the North-Eastern states.

Electricity

• The applications of electricity are so widespread in the modern world that its per capita consumption is considered an index of development. 

• Electricity is mainly generated in two ways- 

• hydroelectricity produced by running water that drives a hydroturbine

• Thermal electricity is produced by burning other fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas to run turbines. 

• Once generated, the electricity is the same. Hydroelectricity is produced from fast flowing water which is a renewable resource. 

• There are many multi-purpose projects in India which generate electric power; such as Bhakra Nangal, Damodar Valley Corporation and Kopili Hydel Project etc.

non-conventional sources of energy

• Increasing energy consumption has made the country highly dependent on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. 

• Rising prices of gas and oil and their possible shortages have created uncertainties about future security of energy supply. 

• This has serious implications for the growth of the national economy. 

• Apart from this, the use of fossil fuels creates serious environmental problems. 

• Hence, there is a great need to use renewable energy resources such as solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, biological energy and energy generated from waste material. 

• These are called non-conventional sources of energy.

• India is rich in sunlight, water and biomass resources. 

• Major programmes have also been created for the development of renewable energy resources in India.

atomic or nuclear energy

• Atomic or molecular energy is obtained by changing the structure of molecules. 

• When such a transformation is carried out a lot of energy is released in the form of heat and this is used to generate electrical energy. 

• Uranium and thorium are used to produce atomic or molecular energy. 

• Thorium is found in monazite sand found in Kerala.

solar energy

• India is a tropical country. 

• There are immense possibilities for harnessing solar energy here. 

• Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight directly into electricity. 

• Solar energy is becoming increasingly popular in rural and remote areas of India. 

• Some large solar power plants are being set up in different parts of the country. 

• It is expected that by using solar energy the dependence on cow dung cakes and wood in rural households can be minimised.

• This method will contribute towards environmental protection and agriculture will also have adequate supply of food.

Wind energy

• There is great potential for production of wind energy in India. 

• The largest belt of wind power farms in India is located in Tamil Nadu from Nagercoil to Madurai. 

• Apart from this, there are important wind energy farms in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep. 

• Nagarcoil and Jaisalmer are known for effective use of wind energy in the country.

Biogas

• In rural areas, biogas for domestic consumption is produced using bushes, agricultural waste, animal and human waste. 

• Decomposition of organic matter produces gas whose thermal efficiency is higher than that of kerosene, cow dung cakes and charcoal. 

• Biogas plants are installed at municipal, cooperative and private levels. 

• Plants using animal dung are known as 'gobar gas plants' in rural India. 

• These benefit the farmers in two ways- 

• As energy 

•  As an advanced type of fertilizer. 

• Biogas is by far the most efficient way to use animal dung. 

• This improves the quality of fertilizer and prevents loss of trees due to burning of cow dung cakes and wood.

tidal energy

• Ocean waves can be used to generate electricity. 

• Dams are constructed by placing flood gates across the creek. 

• At high tide the water fills in through this narrow bay-like entrance and remains inside the dam when the gate is closed. 

• When the tide recedes outside the flood gates, the dam water is piped down this path to the sea, where it leads to energy-producing turbines.

• In India, ideal conditions exist for generating energy from tidal waves in the Gulf of Khambhat, the Gulf of Kutch, the Ganges delta in Gujarat on the western coast and the Sundarbans area in West Bengal.

geothermal energy

• Electricity produced using heat from the interior of the Earth is called geothermal energy.

• Geothermal energy exists because the Earth becomes progressively hotter with increasing depth. 

• Wherever the geothermal gradient is high, high temperatures are found even at shallow depths. 

• In such areas, underground water becomes hot by absorbing heat from the rocks. 

• It becomes so hot that as it rises towards the Earth's surface it transforms into steam. 

• This steam is used to run the turbine and generate electricity.

Two pilot projects have been initiated in India to harness geothermal energy:

1. Located in Parvati Valley near Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh 

2. Located in the Puga valley in Ladakh.

conservation of energy resources 

• Energy is a basic necessity for economic development. 

• Every sector of the national economy requires energy investment to meet the needs of agriculture, industry, transport, commerce and domestic needs. 

• After independence, huge amounts of energy were needed to keep the economic development plans going. 

• Due to which the consumption of all types of energy is gradually increasing throughout the country.

• There is an urgent need to develop sustainable pathways for energy development. 

• Promotion of energy conservation and increasing use of renewable energy resources are the two pillars of sustainable energy.