Mineral Resources

What are minerals

Minerals are naturally occurring, crystalline solids
having a definite chemical composition and
characteristic physical properties.

Most of the rocks we see everyday are composed of

a few common minerals like quartz, feldspar, biotite
of some elements like silicon, oxygen, iron,
magnesium etc
 Uses of minerals
• Development of industrial plants and machinery
• Generation of energy
• Construction, housing, settlements.
• Defence equipment
• Transportation means
• Communication- telephone wires, cables etc
• Medicinal system
• Agriculture – as fertilizers, fungicides
• Jewellary
 Mining
• Minerals and their ores need to be extracted from
the earth’s interior so that they can be used this
process is known as mining.

Steps involved in mining-

i) Prospecting: searching for minerals
ii)Exploration: Assessing the size, shape, location and
economic value of the deposit.
iii)Development: The work of preparing access to the
deposit so that the minerals can be extracted from it.
iv)Exploitation: Extracting the minerals from mines.
 Types of mining

• Surface mining
• Sub surface mining

11 states account for 90 % of the total number of

operational mines (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Karnataka).
 Some major minerals of India
A) Energy generating minerals

Coal and lignite: West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa,

Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh
Uranium: Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya
Rajasthan

B) Other commercially used minerals

Aluminium: Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra

Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
Iron: Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu
Copper: Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, West
Bengal
 Environmental Impacts of Mineral
Extraction and use

• Mines known for causing severe problems:

i) Jaduguda uranium mine, Jharkhand.

ii) Jharia coal mines, Jharkhand
iii) Sukinda chromite mines, Orissa
iv) Kudremukh iron ore mines, Karnataka
 Environmental damage caused by mining
activities
• Deforestation and devegetation
• Loss of flora and fauna
• Ecosystem degradation
• Soil erosion
• Resettlement & Rehabilitation issues
• Occupational health hazards
• Environmental pollution
Air, Water, Soil and Noise pollution
 Remedial Measures
• Adopt eco-friendly mining technology
• Restoration of mined areas by re-vegetating
• Prevention of toxic drainage discharge
 Case Studies
• Improper waste disposal in Malanjkhand’s
copper mines.
• Mining in Sariska Tiger Reserve in Aravallis
Food resources
 Main Food Resources
The main food resources include wheat, rice, maize,
potato, barley, sugarcane, pulses, sorghum, millet,
fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, fish and seafood.

Staple food of the world are wheat, rice and maize.

 World Food Problems
In the last 50 years world grain production has increased
almost three times but at the same time population growth
increased at such a rate in LDCs that it outstripped food
production.
There is a need to increase our food production, equitably
distribute it and also to control population growth.

Indian scenario:
• Third largest producer of staple crops
• Estimated 300 million Indians are still undernourished
• Food problem is directly related to population
Impacts of Overgrazing and Agriculture
Environmental impacts related to food resources

Overgrazing

Soil erosion Land Loss of useful

degradation species
1) Soil erosion
• Due to overgrazing the cover of vegetation almost gets removed
from land due to which soil becomes exposed and gets eroded by
wind and water.

2) Land degradation
• Organic recycling declines
• Humus content of soil decreases
• Trampling by cattle loses infiltration capacity of soil.

3) Loss of useful species

• Nutritious juicy fodder are replaced by thorny plants
 Agriculture

Traditional agriculture

Forest clearing Soil erosion Depletion of

nutrients
Shifting cultivation
1)Deforestation
• The slash and burn of trees in forests to clear the land for
cultivation result in loss of forest cover.

2) Soil erosion
• Clearing of forest cover exposes the soil to wind , rain, storms
resulting in loss of top fertile layer of soil.

3) Depletion of nutrients
• During slash and burn organic matter in the soil gets destroyed
and most of the nutrients are taken up the crops within a short
period
 Modern agriculture

Impacts related to Fertilizer Pesticides Water Salinity

high yielding related impacts related impacts logging problem
Varieties

Micro-nutrient Nitrate Eutrophication Pest resistance Loss of Biological

imbalance pollution problem non- target
magnification
species
1)Impacts related to HYVS
• HYVS encourages monoculture . In case of attack by pathogen, total
devastation of the crop by the disease due to exactly uniform
conditions.
Fertilizers related problems
1) Micronutrient imbalance
• Excessive use of fertilizers causes nutrient imbalance.
2) Nitrate pollution
• Nitrate from fertilizers contaminate the ground water and causes
health hazard called Blue Baby Syndrome.
3) Eutrophication
• Eutrophication leads to the excess growth of algal blooms and
oxygen is consumed in the process of decomposition due to which
water become oxygen deficient.
Pesticides related problems

1)Pest resistance
• Creating resistance in pests and producing new pests.

2) Loss of non-target species

• Insecticides not only kill the target species but also kill the several
non target species that are useful to us.

3) Biological magnification
• Pesticides are non biodegradable and keep on accumulating in the
food chain a process called biological magnification
Water logging

• Over irrigation of cropland by farmers for good growth of their crop

leads to water logging due to which the roots of the plants do not get
adequate air for respiration.

Salinity problem

• Major cause of Stalinization of soil is excessive irrigation with water

contains dissolved salts, the water evaporates and leaving behind salts
in the upper soil profile.
Land Resources
Land is a finite and valuable resource upon which
we depend for our food, fibre and fuel wood.

About 200-1000 years are needed for the formation

of one inch or 2.5 cm soil, depending on the
climate and soil type.
 Soil formation
1) Weathering
Weathering is the breakdown of bigger rock into smaller minerals
particles.

2) Pedogenesis/ Soil development

Pedogenesis is a biological phenomenon in which certain living

organisms like lichens, molluscs, bacteria, fungi etc. Carry out
biochemical, geochemical and biophysical processes by secreting
certain enzymes and organic acids which ultimately increase the
organic matter in the soil.
 Land Degradation

Causes of Land degradation

• Soil erosion, Water-logging, salinization and

contamination of the soil with industrial wastes
like fly ash, heavy metals etc., Uses of fertilizers,
insecticides and pesticides.
 Soil erosion
A) Types of erosion
1) Normal erosion
2) Accelerated erosion

B) Agents of soil erosion

1) Climatic agents
i) Water
ii) Wind
2) Biological agents
• Excessive grazing, mining and deforestation
• Water induced soil erosion
i) Sheet erosion: uniform removal of a thin layer of soil.
ii) Rill erosion: When there is rainfall and rapidly running water
produces finger- shaped grooves or rills over the area, it is called
rill erosion.

iii) Gully erosion: When rainfall is very heavy deeper cavities or

gullies are formed which may be U or V shaped.

iv) Slip erosion: Occur due to heavy rainfall on slopes of hills and
mountains.
v) Stream bank erosion: when fast running streams take a turn in
some other direction they cut the soil and make caves in the bank.
• Wind induced erosion

i) Saltation: soil particles of 1-1.5mm diameter move up in

vertical direction due to the direct influence of stormy
wind.
ii) Suspension: fine soil particles (less than 1mm dia.)
which are suspended in the air are kicked up and taken
away to distant places.
iii) Surface creep: Here large particles(5-10 mm diameter)
creep over soil surface along with wind.
 Measures to control soil erosion
• Conservation till farming:
conservation till farming, popularly known as no till farming causes
minimum disturbance to the top soil.

• Contour farming:
on gentle slopes crops are grown in rows across, rather than up and
down, a practice is known as contour farming.
• Terracing
used on still steeper slopes, converted into a series of broad terraces
which run across contour.

• Strip cropping
Strip of crops are alternated with strips of soil saving cover crops like
grasses or grass legume mixture.
• Alley cropping
In this crops are planted between rows of tree and shrubs.

• Windbreaks or shelterbelts
The trees are planted in long rows along the cultivated land boundary
so that wind is blocked.
Landslides

Rapid down slope movement of rocks or soil as a more or less

coherent mass or the down slope movement of earth materials.
Factors responsible for landslides include:
1) Slope stability: stability of slope depends upon the driving
forces(which tend to move earth materials down a slope) and
resisting forces (which tend to oppose driving forces).Driving force
is weight of slope and resisting force is the strength of the slope
material.
2) Type of earth material: soil slips are more common
on weak pyroclastic materials than on well
cemented sand stone, limestone or granite.

3) Slope angle: Greater the angle of slope greater is

the chances of landslides.

4) Climate and vegetation: Climate controls the nature

and extent of rainfall and thus the moisture content
of slope materials.
Causes of landslides:

Deforestation of mountains areas for mining or

construction of dams, roads and railway lines etc.

Prevention/ control of landslides:

1) Proper surface and sub surface drainage
2) Slope supports like stone filled wire baskets
3) Plantation
 Desertification
Desertification is a process whereby the productive potential of arid or
semi arid lands falls by ten percent or more.

Causes of Desertification:
a) Deforestation: The process of denuding and degradation a forested
land initiates a desert producing cycle that feeds on itself.
b) Overgrazing: The regions most seriously affected by desertification
are cattle producing areas of the world. This is because the increasing
cattle production heavily graze in grasslands or forests and as a result
denude the land area.
c) Mining: It causes the removal of vegetation cover from the land .