Chapter 5: Minerals and Energy Resources

Geography · CBSE Class 10 · Contemporary India-II

📖 Chapter 5: Minerals and Energy Resources (CBSE Class 10 Geography — Contemporary India-II). What minerals are and how they occur, the distribution of major ferrous, non-ferrous, non-metallic and rock minerals, the hazards of mining and conservation, and India's conventional and non-conventional energy resources.

1. What is a Mineral?

A mineral is a ‘homogeneous, naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure.’ Rocks are combinations of minerals (over 2000 identified; a few are abundant). Minerals vary in colour, hardness, crystal form, lustre and density depending on the physical/chemical conditions of their formation.

2. Mode of Occurrence of Minerals

Minerals occur in ores (an accumulation of a mineral with other elements, in commercially viable concentration). Modes:

Mode	How / Examples
Veins & lodes	In cracks/joints of igneous & metamorphic rocks (molten/gaseous minerals forced up, cooled) — tin, copper, zinc, lead
Beds & layers	In sedimentary rocks by deposition & accumulation — coal, iron ore; gypsum, potash & sodium salt (by evaporation in arid regions)
Residual mass (decomposition)	Decomposition of surface rocks, soluble parts removed — bauxite
Placer deposits	Alluvial deposits in valley floors / hill bases, not corroded by water — gold, silver, tin, platinum
Ocean waters	Common salt, magnesium, bromine; ocean beds rich in manganese nodules

🎯 Rat-hole mining: in Meghalaya's tribal areas, minerals are owned by individuals/communities; coal is mined in long narrow tunnels (‘rat holes’) in Jowai and Cherrapunji — declared illegal by the National Green Tribunal.

3. Ferrous Minerals

Account for about three-fourths of the value of metallic-mineral production.

Iron ore — the backbone of industry. Magnetite = finest (up to 70% iron, magnetic); Hematite = most used industrially (50-60% iron). ~97% from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Jharkhand. Belts: Odisha-Jharkhand (Badampahar, Gua, Noamundi), Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur (Bailadila — exported to Japan/S. Korea via Vishakhapatnam), Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru-Tumakuru (Kudremukh — 100% export, slurry pipeline to Mangaluru), Maharashtra-Goa (Marmagao port).
Manganese — used in steel (~10 kg per tonne), ferro-manganese, bleaching powder, insecticides, paints. Top producer: Madhya Pradesh (33%), Maharashtra, Odisha.

4. Non-Ferrous & Non-Metallic Minerals

Mineral	Key facts
Copper	India critically deficient; malleable, ductile, good conductor → electrical cables, electronics. Mines: Balaghat (MP), Khetri (Rajasthan), Singhbhum (Jharkhand)
Bauxite	Source of aluminium (strong yet light); formed by decomposition of aluminium-silicate rocks. Odisha largest (Panchpatmali, Koraput); Amarkantak, Maikal hills
Mica	Splits into thin sheets; excellent di-electric strength, insulation → electric/electronic industry. Koderma-Gaya-Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) leads; also Ajmer (Rajasthan), Nellore (AP)
Limestone	Calcium/magnesium carbonate rocks; basic raw material for cement and essential for smelting iron in the blast furnace

5. Mining Hazards & Conservation of Minerals

🎯 Hazards: dust and noxious fumes cause pulmonary diseases; risk of collapsing roofs, flooding and fire; water contamination and land degradation from waste/slurry — mining can become a ‘killer industry’ without strict safety and environmental laws.

Minerals are finite and non-renewable (only ~1% of the crust is workable; formation takes millions of years). Conservation: use low-grade ores with improved technology, recycle metals, use scrap and substitutes — ‘planned and sustainable’ use.

6. Energy Resources

Conventional: firewood, cattle-dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas, electricity (hydel & thermal). Non-conventional: solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas, atomic. (Over 70% of rural energy comes from firewood & dung cake — unsustainable.)

Conventional Sources

Source	Key facts
Coal	Most abundant fossil fuel. Grades: peat → lignite (Neyveli, TN) → bituminous → anthracite (highest). Ages: Gondwana (metallurgical, Damodar valley — Jharia, Raniganj, Bokaro) and tertiary (NE — Meghalaya, Assam)
Petroleum	‘Nodal industry’ for synthetic textiles, fertiliser, chemicals; in anticlines/fault traps of tertiary rocks. Areas: Mumbai High, Gujarat (Ankleshwar), Assam (Digboi — oldest, Naharkatiya)
Natural Gas	Found with petroleum; CNG (transport), PNG (cooking); Mumbai High, Cambay basin, Krishna-Godavari basin. GAIL's HVJ pipeline; ‘One Nation One Grid’
Electricity	Hydro (fast-flowing water, renewable — Bhakra Nangal, DVC, Kopili) & Thermal (burning coal/oil/gas, non-renewable)

Non-Conventional Sources

Source	Key facts
Nuclear/Atomic	From altering atoms; Uranium & Thorium (Jharkhand, Aravallis of Rajasthan; Monazite sands of Kerala rich in thorium)
Solar	India a tropical country; photovoltaic converts sunlight to electricity; cuts rural dependence on firewood/dung
Wind	Largest cluster: Tamil Nadu (Nagarcoil to Madurai); also Jaisalmer, Gujarat, Maharashtra
Biogas	From shrubs, farm/animal/human waste; higher thermal efficiency than kerosene/dung; ‘Gobar gas plants’ — energy + better manure
Tidal	Floodgate dams across inlets; Gulf of Khambhat, Gulf of Kuchchh (Gujarat), Sunderban (WB)
Geothermal	Heat from Earth's interior; projects at Parvati valley (Manikaran, HP) and Puga valley (Ladakh)

🎯 Conservation of energy: India is among the least energy-efficient countries — use public transport, switch off unused electricity, use power-saving devices and non-conventional sources: ‘energy saved is energy produced.’

📘 NCERT Textbook Exercise Answers

1Multiple choice: (i) Mineral formed by decomposition of rocks, leaving a residual mass of weathered material? (a) coal (b) bauxite (c) gold (d) zinc. (ii) Koderma (Jharkhand) is the leading producer of? (a) bauxite (b) mica (c) iron ore (d) copper. (iii) Minerals are deposited/accumulated in the strata of which rocks? (a) sedimentary (b) metamorphic (c) igneous (d) none. (iv) Which mineral is contained in Monazite sand? (a) oil (b) uranium (c) thorium (d) coal.

(i) (b) bauxite — formed by decomposition of aluminium-rich rocks leaving a residual mass. (ii) (b) mica — the Koderma-Gaya-Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand leads. (iii) (a) sedimentary rocks — minerals occur in beds/layers formed by deposition and accumulation. (iv) (c) thorium — the Monazite sands of Kerala are rich in thorium.

2(i) Distinguish (a) ferrous and non-ferrous minerals (b) conventional and non-conventional sources of energy. (ii) What is a mineral? (iii) How are minerals formed in igneous and metamorphic rocks? (iv) Why do we need to conserve mineral resources?

(i)(a) Ferrous minerals contain iron (e.g. iron ore, manganese) and are the base of metallurgical industries; non-ferrous minerals do not contain iron (e.g. copper, bauxite, gold). (i)(b) Conventional sources are traditional (firewood, dung, coal, petroleum, electricity); non-conventional are newer, renewable sources (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas, atomic). (ii) A mineral is a homogeneous, naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure. (iii) In igneous/metamorphic rocks, minerals occur in cracks, crevices, faults or joints — molten/gaseous minerals are forced upward, then cool and solidify, forming small veins or larger lodes (tin, copper, zinc, lead). (iv) Minerals are finite and non-renewable (only ~1% of the crust is workable and formation takes millions of years), so conservation through recycling and substitutes is essential for the future.

3(i) Describe the distribution of coal in India. (ii) Why do you think solar energy has a bright future in India?

(i) Coal distribution: In India coal occurs in rocks of two geological ages. Gondwana coal (~200 million years old, metallurgical) lies mainly in the Damodar valley (West Bengal-Jharkhand) — the important coalfields being Jharia, Raniganj and Bokaro — and in the Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys. Tertiary coal (~55 million years old) is found in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Since coal is bulky and loses weight on use, heavy industries and thermal plants locate near the coalfields. (ii) Solar's bright future: India is a tropical country with abundant sunlight, so photovoltaic technology can convert it directly into electricity almost everywhere; solar is becoming popular in rural and remote areas, reducing dependence on firewood and dung cakes (helping the environment and leaving dung for manure), and India has one of the largest renewable-energy programmes.

🔥 Extra Practice — Very Difficult / HOTS (competency-based, source & case-based, assertion-reason)

A. Source-/Case-Based Questions

1Case: In Meghalaya's tribal areas, minerals are owned by individuals/communities, and coal is mined in long narrow ‘rat-hole’ tunnels by family members in Jowai and Cherrapunji — an activity the National Green Tribunal has declared illegal. (i) How does mineral ownership here differ from the rest of India? (ii) What is rat-hole mining? (iii) Why might it have been banned?

(i) In most of India minerals are nationalised and need government permission to extract, whereas in Meghalaya's tribal areas they are owned by individuals or communities. (ii) Coal mined through long, narrow tunnels (‘rat holes’) by family members. (iii) It is extremely unsafe (collapsing roofs, flooding, fumes) and causes serious environmental damage (water contamination, land degradation) — hence the NGT declared it illegal.

2Case: Iron ore from the Bailadila hills (Chhattisgarh) — 14 deposits of super-high-grade hematite — is exported to Japan and South Korea via Vishakhapatnam, while Kudremukh ore is sent as slurry through a pipeline to a port near Mangaluru. (i) Name the two iron-ore belts. (ii) Which quality of iron ore is Bailadila known for? (iii) Why is closeness to ports and transport important for mineral economics?

(i) The Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt (Bailadila) and the Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru-Tumakuru belt (Kudremukh). (ii) Super-high-grade hematite with the best physical properties for steel-making. (iii) Because the economic viability of a reserve depends on the concentration of ore, ease of extraction and closeness to the market/port — good transport (ports, slurry pipelines) lowers cost and makes export feasible, turning a ‘deposit’ into a working mine.

3Case: Over 70% of rural household energy comes from firewood and cattle-dung cake, but this is increasingly difficult as forests shrink, and burning dung wastes valuable manure. (i) Which category of energy are firewood and dung? (ii) Give two problems with continuing to rely on them. (iii) Suggest a better alternative and its twin benefit.

(i) Conventional sources of energy. (ii) Decreasing forest area makes firewood hard to get, and burning dung cakes wastes manure that farming needs (plus indoor smoke). (iii) A biogas / Gobar gas plant is better — it gives the twin benefits of clean energy and improved-quality manure, and prevents the loss of trees and dung.

B. Assertion–Reason (a = both true & R explains A; b = both true, R does not explain A; c = A true, R false; d = A false, R true)

4Assertion (A): Heavy industries and thermal power stations are located on or near coalfields. Reason (R): Coal is a bulky material that loses weight on use as it is reduced to ash.

(a) Both true and R explains A. Because coal is bulky and loses weight on use, it is cheaper to bring industry to the coal than to transport coal far — so plants locate near the coalfields.

5Assertion (A): India is self-sufficient and surplus in copper. Reason (R): Copper is malleable, ductile and a good conductor, used in electrical cables.

(d) A is false, R is true. India is critically deficient in copper (A is false), though R correctly describes copper's useful properties.

6Assertion (A): Solar energy is becoming popular in rural and remote areas of India. Reason (R): India is a tropical country with abundant sunlight that photovoltaic technology can convert to electricity.

(a) Both true and R explains A. India's tropical, sun-rich location (R) is exactly why solar photovoltaics are spreading in rural and remote areas (A).

C. Analytical / 5-mark

7‘Mineral resources are finite and non-renewable, so they must be conserved.’ Explain why, and suggest ways to conserve them.

Why conserve: workable mineral deposits are only about 1% of the earth's crust, and the geological processes that form and concentrate minerals take millions of years — so the rate of replenishment is negligible compared with our rate of consumption. Continued extraction also raises costs as ore comes from greater depths with lower quality; so minerals are a valuable, short-lived, non-renewable possession. Ways to conserve: use improved technology to work low-grade ores cheaply; recycle metals and use scrap; use substitutes where possible; and plan extraction in a sustainable manner so that the resource lasts for future generations.

8Picture-the-scenario: Explain how India can reduce its heavy dependence on fossil fuels by developing non-conventional energy, naming at least four sources and their suitable regions.

Rising prices, potential shortages and the environmental damage of fossil fuels make non-conventional (renewable) energy essential. India, ‘blessed with abundant sun, water, wind and biomass,’ can develop: (1) Solar — a tropical country with abundant sunlight, ideal for photovoltaics, especially in rural/remote areas; (2) Wind — the large Nagarcoil-to-Madurai cluster in Tamil Nadu, plus Jaisalmer, Gujarat; (3) Tidal — the Gulf of Khambhat and Gulf of Kuchchh (Gujarat) and the Sunderban (WB); (4) Geothermal — the Parvati valley (Manikaran, HP) and Puga valley (Ladakh); and biogas ‘Gobar gas’ plants in villages. Developing these improves energy security, cuts pollution and reduces dependence on firewood and dung — true sustainable energy.