Minerals and Energy Resources

 The earth’s crust - different minerals in the rocks

 Minerals - indispensable part: tiny pin to a towering building

 A mineral is a “homogenous, naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure.”

 Mineral formation - physical and chemical conditions - colours, hardness, crystal forms, lustre
and density

 Geographers study minerals as part of the earth’s crust for a better understanding of landforms
 A geologist is interested in the formation of minerals, their age and physical and chemical
composition

MODE OF OCCURRENCE OF MINERALS

 Minerals are usually found in “ores”

 Ore - an accumulation of any mineral mixed with other elements
 (i) In igneous and metamorphic rocks - in the cracks, crevices, faults or joints
The smaller occurrences - veins, larger - lodes
Minerals formed in liquid form cool and solidify as they rise
Tin, copper, etc
 (ii) In sedimentary rocks - beds or layers - deposition, accumulation and concentration in
horizontal strata
Coal, some forms of iron ore, gypsum, potash salt and sodium salt
 (iii) Decomposition of surface rocks, and the removal of soluble constituents, leaving a residual
mass - Bauxite
 (iv) Occur as alluvial deposits - ‘placer deposits’ - not corroded by water
Gold, silver, tin and platinum
 (v) The ocean waters contain vast quantities of minerals
Common salt, magnesium and bromine

 India - rich and varied mineral resources - unevenly distributed

 The concentration of mineral in the ore, the ease of extraction and closeness to the market play
 When this is done a mineral ‘deposit’ or ‘reserve’ turns into a mine

Ferrous Minerals

 Three- fourths of the total value of the production

 Base for the development of metallurgical industries

Iron Ore

 Backbone of industrial development

 Magnetite - finest iron ore - 70%, excellent magnetic qualities
 Hematite - most important industrial iron ore in terms of the quantity used - 50-60%

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 Minerals and Energy Resources

 Major iron ore belts

 Odisha-Jharkhand belt - high grade hematite
 Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur - very high grade hematites - best physical properties for steel making -
exported to Japan and South Korea
 Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru- Tumakuru - large reserves of iron ore - The Kudremukh
mines - 100% export unit
 Maharashtra-Goa belt - not of very high quality, efficiently exploited

Manganese

 Manufacturing of steel and ferro-manganese alloy

 Used in manufacturing bleaching powder, insecticides and paints

Non-Ferrous Minerals

Copper

 Critically deficient
 Being malleable, ductile and a good conductor - electrical cables, electronics and chemical
industries
 The Balaghat mines in Madhya Pradesh, Khetri mines in Rajasthan and Singhbhum district of
Jharkhand

Bauxite

 Bauxite deposits are formed by the decomposition of a wide variety of rocks rich in aluminium
silicates
 Amarkantak plateau, Maikal hills and the plateau region of Bilaspur-Katni

Non-Metallic Minerals

Mica

 Made up of a series of plates or leaves

 Splits easily into thin sheets
 Clear, black, green, red yellow or brown
 Di-electric strength, low power loss factor, insulating properties and resistance to high voltage, -
electric and electronic industries
 Chota Nagpur plateau. Koderma Gaya – Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand is the leading producer
 In Rajasthan - Ajmer
 Nellore mica belt of Andhra Pradesh

Rock Minerals

Limestone

 It is found in sedimentary rocks

 Limestone - basic raw material - cement industry and essential for smelting iron ore

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 Minerals and Energy Resources

Mining - Killer industry

 The dust and noxious fumes - pulmonary diseases

 The risk of collapsing mine roofs, inundation and fires in coalmines
 The water sources - contaminated
 Dumping of waste and slurry - degradation of land, soil, and increase in stream and river
pollution

CONSERVATION OF MINERALS

 The strong dependence of industry and agriculture

 The geological processes of mineral formation are slow
 Use our mineral resources in a planned and sustainable manner
 Improved technologies - use of low grade ores at low costs
 Recycling of metals, using scrap metals and other substitutes

Energy Resources

 Energy is required for all activities - cook, to provide light etc

 Generated from fuel minerals like coal, petroleum, etc
 Classified as conventional and non-conventional sources
 Conventional - firewood, cattle dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity (both
hydel and thermal)
 Non-conventional - solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and atomic energy
 Firewood and cattle dung cake - more than 70 per cent energy requirement in rural households
 Use becoming difficult due to decreasing forest area
 Dung cake - consumes most valuable manure

Conventional Sources of Energy

Coal

 Most abundantly available

 Used for power generation, to supply energy to industry & domestic needs
 Formed due the compression of plant material over millions of years
 Decaying plants in swamps produce peat - low carbon and high moisture contents and low
heating capacity
 Lignite - low grade brown coal, soft with high moisture content
 Reserves - Neyveli in Tamil Nadu, used for generation of electricity
 Bituminous coal - buried deep and subjected to increased temperatures
 Most popular coal in commercial use
 Metallurgical coal is high grade bituminous coal - special value for smelting iron in blast furnaces
 Anthracite - highest quality hard coal

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 Minerals and Energy Resources

 In India - Gondwana- over 200 million years in age & tertiary deposits - about 55 million years
old
 Gondwana - Damodar valley
 Jharia, Raniganj, Bokaro are important coalfields
 The Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys also contain coal deposits
 Tertiary coals - north eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland
 Coal - bulky material, loses weight on use - ash

Petroleum

 Provides fuel for heat and lighting, lubricants for machinery and raw materials
 “Nodal industry” for synthetic textile, fertiliser and numerous chemical industries
 Occurrences - anticlines and fault traps
 Fault traps between porous and non-porous rocks
 Mumbai High, Gujarat and Assam are major petroleum production areas
 Ankeleshwar - most important field of Gujarat
 Assam is the oldest oil producing state of India
 Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran-Hugrijan are the important oil fields

Natural Gas

 Found with petroleum deposits

 Released when crude oil is brought to the surface
 Used as a domestic and industrial fuel
 Used as fuel in power sector to generate electricity, for heating purpose in industries, as raw
material in chemical, petrochemical and fertilizer industries, as transport fuel and as cooking fuel
 Emerging as transport fuel (CNG) and cooking fuel (PNG) at homes
 Mumbai High and allied fields along the west coast
 East Coast - Krishna-Godavari basin

Hazira-Vijaipur- Jagdishpur

 The first 1,700 km long cross country gas pipeline

 Constructed by GAIL (India)
 Links Mumbai High and Bassein gas fields with various fertilizer, power and industrial complexes
 India’s gas infrastructure has expanded over ten times from 1,700 km to 18,500 km

Electricity

 Per capita consumption - index of development

 By running water which drives hydro turbines - hydro electricity
 Bhakra Nangal, Damodar Valley corporation, etc
 By burning other fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas - thermal power
 Use non-renewable fossil fuels for generating electricity

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 Minerals and Energy Resources

Non-Conventional Sources of Energy

 Rising prices of oil and gas and their potential shortages

 Increasing use of fossil fuels - environmental problems

Nuclear or Atomic Energy

 Obtained by altering the structure of atoms- energy released in the form of heat - used to
generate electric power
 Uranium and Thorium - used for generating atomic or nuclear power

Solar Energy

 Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight directly into electricity

 Minimise the dependence of rural households on firewood and dung cakes
 Contribute to environmental conservation and adequate supply of manure

Wind power

 The largest wind farm cluster - Tamil Nadu from Nagarcoil to Madurai
 Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, etc
 Nagarcoil and Jaisalmer - effective use of wind energy

Biogas

 Shrubs, farm waste, animal and human waste - produce

 Plants are set up at municipal, cooperative and individual levels
 Plants using cattle dung - ‘Gobar gas plants’
 Twin benefits - form of energy & improved quality of manure
 Prevents the loss of trees and manure

Tidal Energy

 Oceanic tides can be used to generate electricity

 Floodgate dams are built across inlets
 High tide - water flows into the inlet and gets trapped - gate is closed
 After the tide falls outside the flood gate - water flows back to the sea via a pipe - carries it
through a power-generating turbine
 Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), the Gulf of Kuchchh in Gujarat - ideal conditions for utilising tidal
energy

Geo Thermal Energy

 Heat and electricity produced by using the heat from the interior of the Earth
 Groundwater in high geothermal gradient areas absorbs heat from the rocks and becomes hot
 Rises to the earth’s surface- steam - drive turbines and generate electricity
 Parvati valley near Manikarn in Himachal Pradesh and the other is located in the Puga Valley,
Ladakh - hot springs to harness energy

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 Minerals and Energy Resources

Conservation of Energy Resources

 Consumption of energy - steadily rising

 Develop a sustainable path
 Promotion of energy conservation and increased use of renewable energy sources - twin planks
 India - least energy efficient countries

“Energy saved is energy produced”

 Using public transport systems instead of individual vehicles

 Switching off electricity when not in use
 Using power-saving devices
 Using non-conventional sources of energy
 “Energy saved is energy produced”

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