Thomas chinnappan geologist keeranur, pudukkottai, tamilnadu, india.

1. Economic mineral resource of
India
BY:
THOMAS CHINNAPPAN .A ,
M.SC.APPLIED GEOLOGY,
PERIYAR UNIVERSITY,
SALEM.

2. Introduction :
• Earth has innumerable variety of valuable natural resources
• Economic mineral is broader, and includes minerals, metals, rocks and
hydrocarbons
• India has significant mineral resources of Coal (4th largest reserves in the
world), Iron ore, Manganese ore (7th largest reserve in the world as in 2013),
Mica, Bauxite (5th largest reserve in the world as in 2013), Chromite, Natural
gas, Diamonds, Limestone, Titanium and Thorium (world's largest along coast of
Kerala)

3. • Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in
the old crystalline rocks. Over 97 per cent of coal reserves occur in the valleys of
Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari.
• Peninsular India is broadly divided into four Provinces from the considerations
of tectono-metallogenic evolution. Hence, geological evolution from Archaean
to Tertiary and related mineralisation have been dealt under Southern (Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Goa), Central (Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and southern part of Uttar Pradesh), Western (Gujarat, Rajasthan
and Haryana) and Eastern (West Bengal, Bihar, Chhatishgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha,
Assam and Meghalaya) provinces

4. Categories of Economic Minerals:
• Economic Mineral resources fall into four broad categories: metals and
non-metals, mineral fuels, gemstones, and industrial minerals. Coal, oil,
and natural gas are treated as mineral fuels. Metals include gold, silver,
iron, copper, lead, and zinc. Rubies and diamonds are examples of
gemstones. All other minerals and rocks of economic significance, from
river gravel to sheet mica, are classified as industrial minerals. Industrial
and metallic minerals, because of their physical and chemical properties,
provide materials that are essential for modern society. They furnish raw
materials for construction and agriculture, and for the ceramic, chemical,
metallurgical, manufacturing, and energy-related industries. Economic
geology deals with the origin, occurrence, distribution and utility of all
these mineral resource

5. Minerals are classified into 10 major categories, on economic point of
view:
1. Metallic Minerals (Ferrous Group)
2. Metallic Minerals (Non-Ferrous Group)
3. Precious & Semi-precious Minerals
4. Strategic Minerals
5. Fertilizer Minerals
6. Refractory Minerals
7. Ceramic and Glass Minerals
8. Other Industrial Minerals
9. Minor Minerals
10. Mineral fuels ( Coal, Oil & Gas)

6. Precious metals
• Gold
• PGE (Platinum Group of Elements)
Ferrous metals
• Iron Ore
• Titaniferous vanadiferous magnetite
• Manganese
• Chromite
Base metals
• Copper,Lead and Zinc

7. Chemicals and Fertilisers
• Apatite
• Baryte
• Borax
• Gypsum
• Sulphur
• Pyrite
• Potash
• Rock Phosphate
Light metals
• Bauxite 88
• Tin 89
Gemstones and Precious stones
• Diamond 90
• Precious and Semi-precious Stones 106

8. Industrial Minerals
• Limestone
• Asbestos
• Graphite
• Mica
• Magnesite
• Stibnite
• Glass sands
• Abrasives
• Steatite and Soapstone
• Clays
• Bentonite
• Marble
• Wollastonite

9. Mineral fuel
• Coal
• Coal Bed Methane
• Lignite
Strategic Minerals
• Uranium
• Ilmenite, Rutile, Monazite
• Molybdenum
• Tungsten

18. END