India's Mineral Wealth: Rare Minerals found in India

India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resources due to its varied geological structure. On the basis of chemical and physical properties, minerals may be grouped under two main categories of metallics and non-metallics. Metallic minerals are the sources of metals. Iron ore, copper, gold produce metal and are included in this category. 

Metallic minerals are further divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic minerals. All those minerals which have iron content are ferrous such as iron ore itself and those which do not have iron content are non-ferrous such as copper, bauxite, etc. Non-metallic minerals are either organic in origins such as fossil fuels also known as mineral fuels which are derived from the buried animal and plant life such as coal and petroleum. 

Other types of non-metallic minerals are inorganic in origin such as mica, limestone and graphite, etc. Here are some rare minerals which are found in India.

 

Bauxite Ore (Aluminium)

The total in situation reserves is 3.076 million tonnes. About 84 per cent of this reserve is of the metallurgical grade. The conditional resources of bauxite are about 5, 99,780 tonnes. In addition, prospective resources are placed at 90 million tonnes. Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jharkhand are the principal states where bauxite deposits are located. Major reserves are concentrated in the East Coast Bauxite deposits of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

 

Iron Ore

The total in-situ reserves of iron ore in the country are about 1,23,17,275 thousand tonnes of haematite and 53,95,214 thousand tonnes of magnetite. The resources of very high-grade ore are limited and are restricted mainly in the Bailadila sector of Chhattisgarh and to a lesser extent in Bellary-Hospet area of Karnataka and Barajamda sector in Jharkhand and Orissa. Haematite resources are located in Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. Magnetite resources are located in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

 

Copper

The total in-situ reserves of copper ore in the country are 712.5 million tonnes, equivalent to 9.4 million tonnes of metal content. The all-India conditional resources of copper are 722 million tonnes (3.15 million tonnes of copper metal) and prospective resources are 0.6 million tonnes of copper ore. Major and important copper ore deposits are located in Singhbhum district (Jharkhand), Balaghat district (Madhya Pradesh) and Jhunjhunu and Alwar districts (Rajasthan).

 

Chromite

Total in-situ reserves of chromite are estimated at 114 million tonnes. Total geological resources were estimated at 187 million tonnes, consisting of around 114 million tonnes in situ reserves and about 73 million tonnes as conditional resources. The largest share (about 96 per cent) in the total geological resources is accounted for by the Cuttack district in Orissa. Deposits of economic significance occur in Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Manipur. 

 

Gold

There are three important gold fields in the country, namely, Kolar Gold Fields, Kolar district, Hutti Gold Field in Raichur district (both in Karnataka) and Ramgiri Gold Field in Anantapur district (Andhra Pradesh). Total in-situ reserves of gold ore are estimated at 22.4 million tonnes, with 116.50 tonnes of metal.

 

Graphite

The in-situ reserves of graphite are 16 million tonnes. Orissa is the major producer of graphite. Almost the entire reserves of Tamil Nadu under the proved category are in Ramanathapuram district. Deposits of commercial importance are located in Andhra Pradesh” Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

 

Limestone

The total in-situ reserves of limestone of all categories and grades are placed at 1, 69,941 million tonnes. The total conditional reserves have been estimated at 3,713 million tonnes. The major share of its production comes from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat: Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.

 

Magnesite

The total in-situ reserves of Magnesite are about 415 million tonnes of which 76 million tonnes are in the proved category. Major deposits of magnesite are found in Uttaranchal, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan while minor deposits are in Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.

 

Diamond

Diamond deposits occur in three types of geological settings such as kimberlite pipes, conglomerate beds and alluvial gravels. The main diamond bearing areas in India are the Panna belt in Madhya Pradesh, Munimadugu-Banganapalle conglomerate in Kurnool district, Wajrakarur Kimberlite pipe in Anantapur district and the gravels of Krishna river basin in Andhra Pradesh. Reserves have been estimated only in the Panna belt and Krishna Gravels in Andhra Pradesh. The total in-situ reserves are about 26, 43,824 carats. There are conditional resources of 19, 36,512 carats. The new kimberlite fields are discovered recently in Raichur-Gulbarga districts of Karnataka.

 

Mica

India is the world’s leading producer of sheet mica and accounts for about 60 per cent of global mica trade. Important mica-bearing pegmatite occurs in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand Bihar and Rajasthan. The total in-situ reserves of mica in the country are placed at 59, often tonnes. The in-situ reserves of mica in Andhra Pradesh are 42,626 thousand tonnes, Bihar 12,938 tonnes, Jharkhand 1,494 tonnes and in Rajasthan 2,007 tonnes.

 

Sadly, most of the times it is looted...