Chapter 5 Solutions — Minerals and Energy Resources

Ferrous minerals contain iron. They account for about three-fourths of the total value of the production of metallic minerals and provide a strong base for metallurgical industries — e.g. iron ore and manganese.

Non-ferrous minerals do not contain iron. India's reserves and production of them are not very satisfactory, yet they play a vital role in metallurgical, engineering and electrical industries — e.g. copper, bauxite, lead, zinc and gold.

In India coal occurs in rock series of two main geological ages — Gondwana, a little over 200 million years in age, and tertiary deposits which are only about 55 million years old.

The major resources of Gondwana coal, which are metallurgical coal, are located in the Damodar valley (West Bengal–Jharkhand). Jharia, Raniganj and Bokaro are important coalfields. The Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys also contain coal deposits.

Tertiary coals occur in the north eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Because coal is a bulky material that loses weight on use as it is reduced to ash, heavy industries and thermal power stations are located on or near the coalfields.

Conventional sources of energy include firewood, cattle dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity (both hydel and thermal).

Non-conventional sources include solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and atomic energy.