CBSE Class 12 Geography Minerals and Energy Resources Notes

India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resource due to its varied geological structure. The mineral resources provide the country with the essential base for industrial development. Plateau region of Peninsular India has reserve of valuable minerals, which are mainly associated with the metamorphic and igneous rocks. The Northern plains of India are deficient in minerals of economic use. But minerals are also found along the coastal plains of India.

Minerals

A mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with specific chemical and physical properties.
Minerals are important and provide raw material to different industries and thus, support industrial development of a country.

Characteristics of Minerals
- Distribution of minerals over the earth’s surface is uneven.
- There is inverse relationship between the quantity and quality of minerals i.e. good quality minerals are less in quantity and low quality minerals are found in large quantities.
- Minerals are exhaustible, once used they cannot be replenished immediately at the time of need. So, minerals have to be conserved and used judiciously.

Types of Minerals
Minerals are classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties into metallic and non-metallic minerals.Metallic Minerals These minerals are rich in metals. For example, copper, iron-ore, bauxite, gold, manganese, etc.

These are of two types
(i) Ferrous Minerals These minerals are rich in iron content and are an important source of iron. For example, iron-ore.
(ii) Non-ferrous Minerals These minerals do not have iron content and have high proportion of other metals. For example, copper, bauxite, etc.
Non-Metallic Minerals These minerals do not have metallic contents and are classified into two groups
(i) Organic Minerals These are made up of organic matter of buried animals and plants. For example, fossil/mineral fuels like coal, petroleum, etc.
(ii) Inorganic Minerals These are inorganic in nature of origin. For example, mica, limestone, graphite, etc.

Distribution of Minerals in India

Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in the old crystalline rocks. River valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari have over 97% of coal reserves in India.

Sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and offshore region in the Arabian sea (Mumbai high) are famous for their crude petroleum reserves. New reserves of petroleum have been found in the basins of Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basins. Most of the major mineral resources occur to the East of a line joining Mangaluru and Kanpur. Though there are isolated pockets of occurence of minerals but minerals are generally concentrated in three broad belts in India. These belts are

The North-Eastern Plateau Region
This belt includes the regions of Chhotanagpur (Jharkhand), Odisha plateau, West Bengal and parts of Chhattisgarh. Important minerals here are iron-ore, coal, manganese, bauxite and mica. Due to availability of these minerals, most of the iron and steel industries are located here.

The South-Western Plateau Region
This belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and contiguous uplands shared with Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Ferrous metals and bauxite are concentrated here along with high grade iron ore, manganese and limestone.
The only region of coal deposits in this belt is Neyveli (Tamil Nadu), which is famous for lignite coal. Deposits of monazite and thorium and bauxite clay are found in Kerala and iron-ore deposits are found in Goa.

The North- Western Region
Minerals of this belt are associated with Dharwar system of rocks which are found in the Aravali range of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat. Major minerals are copper and zinc.
Rajasthan is rich in building stones i.e. sandstones, granite, marble, gypsum and fuller’s deposits.
Cement industries are also concentrated here due to availability of dolomite and limestone, which are the raw materials of these industries. Gujarat is rich in petroleum deposits and salt is produced in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Other Areas/Regions
Both Eastern and Western parts of the Himalayan belt have minerals like copper, lead, zinc, cobalt and tungsten. Assam valley has mineral oil deposits. Besides this, oil resources are also found in offshore area nearMumbai coast (Mumbai high).

Metallic Minerals

Spatial pattern of some of the important metallic minerals are Ferrous Minerals
India is well placed in respect of ferrous minerals both in reserves and production. Ferrous minerals like iron-ore, manganese, chromite, etc. provide a strong base for development of metallurgical industries1.

Iron-Ore
India has largest iron ore reserves in Asia. Two superior quality iron-ore found in India are haematite and magnetite, they have a great demand in international market. Iron-ore mines of India are found near the coal fields of North-Eastern plateau region which is an advantage for iron and steel industries of India. Only a few Indian states contain about 95% of total iron ore reserves in India.

These states are
- Odisha In Odisha, iron ore occurs in a series of hill ranges in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar.
Gurumahisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar (Mayurbhanj),Kiruburu (Kendujhar) and Bonai (Sundergarh) are important mines.
- Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh Jharkhand has some of the oldest mines in India and most of the iron and steel plants are located around these mines. Important iron-ore mines are Noamundi and Gua in Poorbi and Paschimi Singhbhum district. The belt further extends to Durg, Dantewara, and Bailadila in Chhattisgarh. Important mines are Dalli and Rajhara in Durg.
- Karnataka Iron ore deposits occur in Sandur-Hospet area of Ballari district, Baba Budan hills and Kudremukh in Chikkmagaluru, parts of Shivamogga, Chitradurg and Tumakuru districts.
- Maharashtra Important iron ore deposits are located in Chandrapur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri districts.
- Andhra Pradesh Important areas where iron ore is found are Kurnool, Cuddapah and Anantapur districts.
- Telangana Important districts where iron ore is found include Karimnagar and Warangal.
- Others These include Salem and Nilgiri district ofTamil Nadu and other similar mining regions. Goa has also emerged as an important iron-ore producer.

Manganese
It is an important raw material which is used in iron and steel industry for smelting of iron-ore and in the manufacturing of ferro alloys. It is found almost in all geological formations but it is mainly associated with Dharwar rock system. Important states are
- Odisha It is the leading manganese producer of India.
The central part of the iron-ore belt of India contains most of the manganese mines of Odisha. Important mines are located in the districts of Bonai, Kendujhar, Sundergarh,Gangpur, Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput.
- Karnataka In Karnataka, mines are located in Dharwar,Ballari, Belgaum (Belagavi), North Canara, Chikkmagaluru, Shivamogga, Chitradurg and Tumakuru.
- Maharashtra In Maharashtra, manganese is mainly mined in Nagpur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri districts. The main disadvantage of these mines is that they are located far from steel plants.
- Madhya Pradesh In Madhya Pradesh, manganese is found in a belt that extends through Balaghat-Chhindwara-Nimar-Mandla Jhabua districts.
- Others Other minor producers of manganese are Telangana,Goa and Jharkhand.

Non-Ferrous Minerals

India is poorly endowed with non-ferrous metallic minerals except bauxite.

Bauxite
It is the ore which is used in manufacturing of aluminium. It is found in tertiary deposits and is associated with laterite rocks found mostly in the plateau or hilly regions of peninsular India and also in the coastal areas. Important states are
- Odisha It is the largest producer of bauxite and the important producing areas in the state are Kalahandi and Sambalpur. Bolangir and Koraput are the other two areas where production is increasing.
- Jharkhand The patlands of Lohardaga in Jharkhand have rich deposits.
- Gujarat Bhavanagar and Jamnagar have major deposits of bauxite.
- Chhattisgarh Amarkantak plateau region has large deposits of bauxite.
- Madhya Pradesh Katni-Jabalpur area and Balaghat have important deposits of bauxite.
- Maharashtra Kolaba, Thane, Ratnagiri, Satara, Pune and Kolhapur are important producers of bauxite.
- Others Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa are the minor producers of Bauxite.

Copper
It is alloyable, malleable (can be converted into thin sheets), ductile (can be drawn into wire) and an indispensable (essential) metal. It is used in electrical industry for making wires, electric motors, transformers and generators. It is mixed with gold to provide strength to jewellery. Important states are
- Jharkhand Copper deposits in Singbhum district.
- Madhya Pradesh Copper deposits in Balaghat district.
- Rajasthan Copper deposits in Jhunjhunu and Alwar districts.
- Others The minor producers of copper are include Agnigundala in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh,Chitradurg and Hasan districts in Karnataka and South Arcot district in Tamil Nadu.

Non-metallic Minerals

Mica is the most important non-metallic mineral produced in India. Apart from mica, some other non-metallic mineral found in India are limestone, dolomite and phosphate. They are found in less quantities and used for local consumption.

Mica
It is mainly used in the electrical/electronic industries. It can be split into very thin, strong and flexible sheets. Important states are
- Jharkhand Mica is produced in a belt extending for 150 km in length and 22 km in width in the lower Hazaribagh plateau. This range produces high quality of mica.
- Andhra Pradesh Nellore district is important producer of mica. It produces best quality mica.
- Rajasthan A 320 km long belt from Jaipur to Bhilwara and around Udaipur produces mica.
- Karnataka Mysore and Hasan districts are important producer of mica.
- Others Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai and Kanniyakumari (Tamil Nadu), Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), Alleppey (Kerala), Purulia and Bankura (West Bengal) are also known for mica deposits.

Salt
It is a mineral composed of Sodium Chloride (NaCl). Salt is used in many industrial processes including the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride, plastics, paper pulp, etc.Rajasthan and Gujarat have rich sources of salt.

Energy Resources

All sector of economy i.e. agriculture, industry, transport require power which comes from mineral fuels. Mineral fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas, nuclear energy minerals are used for generating power. Energy resources are categorised into two i.e. conventional and non-conventional.

Conventional Sources of Energy

These sources of energy are being used since a long time. These resources cannot be renewed or replenished. They are exhaustible in nature. For example, all fossil fuels2 like coal, petroleum and natural gas.

Coal
It is used in generation of thermal power and smelting of iron-ore. About 80% of coal found in India is bituminous coal of non-coking grade. In India, coal is found in two rock sequences i.e Gondwana deposits and Tertiary coal deposits.

Gondwana Coal Fields
Most important Gondwana coal fields are located in the Damodar valley. It lies in West Bengal-Jharkhand region. Jharia (largest coal field), Raniganj (second largest field), Bokaro, Giridih, Karanpura are important Gondwana coal fields. Other river valleys associated with coal are Godavari, Mahanadi and Sone.The important coal mining centres are
- Madhya Pradesh Singrauli
- Chhattisgarh Korba
- Odisha Talcher and Rampur
- Maharashtra Chanda-Wardhe, Kamptee and Bander
- Telangana Singareni
- Andhra Pradesh Pandur

Tertiary Coal Fields
Important states of having tertiary coal fields are
- Meghalaya Darangiri, Cherrapunji, Mewlong and Langrin.
- AssamMakum, Jaipur and Nazira in upper Assam.
- Arunachal Pradesh Namchik-Namphuk
- Jammu and Kashmir Kalakot
Besides, the brown coal or lignite coal occurs in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Gujarat and also in Jammu and Kashmir.

Petroleum
It is used as an essential source of energy in all internal combustion engines of automobiles, railways and aircrafts. It is also used as a raw material in petrochemical industries to produce fertiliser, synthetic rubber, synthetic fibre, medicines, vaseline, lubricants, wax soap and cosmetics, etc. It is also called liquid gold due to its scarcity and different uses. Crude oil is found in sedimentary rocks of tertiary age.
It consists of hydrocarbons of liquid and gaseous states varying in chemical composition, colour and specific gravity. Before Independence, Digboi was the only crude oil producing region in India, but after Independence in 1956, Oil and Natural Gas Commission was set up and the scenario changed after it. In recent years, new oil deposits have been found at the extreme Western and Eastern parts of the country. Some important oil producing regions are
- Assam Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran.
- Gujarat Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam,Kosamba and Lunej.
- Mumbai High It is an offshore oil producing region, located 160 km off Mumbai in the Arabian Sea. It was discovered in 1973 and production started in 1976.
- Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri Basin Oil and natural gas have been found in these river basins on the East coast of India.

Crude oil which is extracted from the wells contains many impurities and cannot be used directly. This crude oil is refined in refineries. There are two types of oil refineries in India
(i) Field Based Refineries Digboi is an example of field based refinery.
(ii) Market Based Refineries Barauni is an example of market based refinery.

Natural Gas
It occurs along with oil as well as separately in gas reserves in India. These gas reserves are located along the Eastern coast in Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh as well as Tripura, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Gujarat and Maharashtra have off-shore wells of natural gas. The Gas Authority of India Limited was set up in 1984 as a public undertaking to transport and market natural gas. According to a survey report, the oil and natural Gas commission have found indications of huge gas reserves in Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu state.

Non-Conventional Energy Sources

These sources are renewable in nature. Their use ensure sustainable development as these are environment friendly and cheaper energy sources. These resources are more equitably distributed and will provide sustained and cheaper energy after the initial cost is taken care of. These sources include solar, wind, hydro-geothermal and biomass. Nuclear energy is also a clean source of energy.

Nuclear Energy Sources
It has emerged as a viable source in recent times. Uranium and thorium are main minerals that are used to generate nuclear energy.

Uranium Deposits in India
It is found in Dharwar rock system. Important regions are
- Jharkhand Along the Singbhum Copper belt
- Rajasthan Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu districts
- Chhattisgarh Durg district
- Maharashtra Bhandara district
- Himachal Pradesh Kullu district

Thorium Deposits in India
It is mainly obtained from monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands along the coasts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In India, it is found in very few places. The states which have world’s richest monazite deposits are
- Kerala Palakkad and Kollam districts
- Andhra Pradesh Near Visakhapatnam
- Odisha Mahanadi river delta