Gunjan Adhikari
MINERAL RESOURCES
USES AND EXPLOITATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF EXTRACTING
AND USING MINERAL RESOURCES
CASE STUDIES
Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic,
crystalline solids having a definite chemical
composition and characteristic physical properties.
An ore is a mineral or combination of
minerals from which a useful substance,
such as a metal, can be extracted and
used to manufacture a useful product.
a gold ore
Minerals are formed over a period of
millions of years in the earth’s crust.
The main uses of minerals are as follows:
(i) Development of industrial plants and
machinery.
(ii) Generation of energy e.g. coal, lignite,
uranium.
(iii) Construction, housing, settlements.
(iv) Defense equipments weapons, armaments.
(v) Transportation means.
(vi) Communication- telephone wires,
cables, electronic devices.
(vii) Medicinal system- particularly in
Ayurvedic System.
(viii) Formation of alloys for various purposes
(e.g. phosphorite).
(IX) Agriculture –as fertilizers, seed dressings
and fungicides (e.g. zineb containing zinc,
Maneb-containing manganese etc.).
(x) Jewellery–e.g. Gold, silver, platinum,
diamond.
Based on their properties, minerals are
basically of two types:
(i) Non metallic minerals e.g. graphite,
diamond, quartz, feldspar.
(ii) Metallic minerals e.g. Bauxite, laterite,
haematite etc.
Minerals which contain metals
Metallic Minerals: iron, copper, gold
etc….
These minerals have to be extracted
from the ores in which they are
present along with some other metal.
Precious and Useful
Minerals which do not contain metals.
Non Metallic Minerals: nitrate, potash,
coal
These minerals produce heat and
energy and hence called as fuels.
Coal and Petroleum are the minerals
which originated from the plant and
animal remains .
Distribution and uses of some of the major
metallic and non-metallic minerals are given
in Tables 1 and 2.
It is evident from the Tables that the CIS
countries (The Commonwealth of Independent
States i.e. 12 republics of former USSR), the
United States of America, Canada, South Africa
and Australia are having the major world
reserves of most of the metallic minerals.
Due to huge mineral and energy resources,
the USA became the richest and the most
powerful nation in the world in even less than
200 years.
(a) Energy generating minerals
Coal and lignite: West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Orissa, M.P., A.P.
Uranium (Pitchblende or Uranite ore):
Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh (Nellore,
Nalgonda), Meghalaya, Rajasthan (Ajmer).
b) Other commercially used minerals
Aluminium (Bauxite ore): Jharkhand, West
Bengal,Maharashtra, M.P., Tamilnadu.
Iron (haematite and magnetite ore): Jharkhand,
Orissa, M.P.,A.P., Tamilnadu, Karnataka,
Maharashtra and Goa.
Copper (Copper Pyrites): Rajasthan (Khetri), Bihar,
Jharkhand, Karnataka, M.P., West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
The issue related to the limits of the mineral
resources in our earth's crust or in the ocean
is not so significant. More important
environmental concern arises from the
impacts of extraction and processing of these
minerals during mining, smelting etc.
Indian Scenario: India is the producer of 84
minerals the annual value of which is about
Rs.50,000 crore.
At least six major mines need a mention
here which are known for causing severe
problems:
(i) Jaduguda Uranium Mine, Jharkhand—
exposing local people to radioactive hazards.
(ii) Jharia coal mines, Jharkhand—
underground
fire leading to land subsidence and forced
displacement of people.
(iii) Sukinda chromite mines, Orissa—
seeping of
hexavalent chromium into river posing serious
health hazard, Cr6+ being highly toxic and
carcinogenic. of groundwater.
(iv) Kudremukh iron ore mine, Karnataka—
causing river pollution and threat to
biodiversity.
(v) East coast Bauxite mine, Orissa—Land
encroachment and issue of rehabilitation
unsettled.
(vi) North-Eastern Coal Fields, Assam— Very
high sulphur contamination
Mining is done to extract minerals (or fossil
fuels) from deep deposits in soil by using
sub-surface mining or from shallow deposits
by surface mining.
The former method is more destructive,
dangerous and expensive including risks of
occupational hazards and accidents.
Surface mining can make use of any of the
following three types:
(a) Open-pit mining in which machines dig
holes and remove the ores (e.g. copper, iron,
gravel, limestone, sandstone, marble, granite).
(b) Dredging in which chained buckets and
draglines are used which scrap up the
minerals from under-water mineral deposits.
(c) Strip mining in which the ore is stripped off
by using bulldozers, power shovels and
stripping wheels (e.g. phosphate rocks).
The environmental damage caused by mining
activities are as follows:
(i) De-vegetation and defacing of landscape
(ii) Subsidence of land
(iii) Groundwater contamination:
(iv) Surface water pollution
(v) Air pollution:
(vi) Occupational Health Hazards
The low-grade ores can be better utilized by
using microbial-leaching technique.
This biological method is helpful from
economic as well as environmental point of
view.
Restoration of mined areas by re-vegetating
them
Mining in Sariska Tiger Reserve in Aravallis
The Aravalli range is spread over about 692 km in the North-west
India covering Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. The hill
region is very rich in biodiversity as well as mineral resources. The
Sariska tiger reserve has gentle slopy hills, vertical rocky valleys,
flat plains as well as deep gorges. The reserve is very rich in wild
life and has enormous mineral reserves like quartzite, Schists,
marble and granite in abundance. Mining operations within and
around the Sariska Tiger reserve has left many areas permanently
infertile and barren. The precious wild life is under serious threat.
We must preserve the Aravalli series as a National
Heritage and the Supreme Court on December 31st, 1991
has given a judgement in response to a Public Interest
Litigation of Tarun Bharat Sangh, an NGO wherein both
Centre and State Government of Rajasthan have been
directed to ensure that all mining activity within the park
be stopped. More than 400 mines were shut immediately.
But, still some illegal mining is in progress.
Mining and quarrying in Udaipur
About 200 open cast mining and quarrying centers
in Udaipur, about half of which are illegal are
involved in stone mining including soapstone,
building stone, rock phosphate and dolomite. The
mines spread over 15,000 hectares in Udaipur
have caused many adverse impacts on
environment. About 150 tones of explosives are
used per month in blasting.
The waste water flows towards a big tank of “Bag
Dara”. Due to scarcity of water people are
compelled to use this effluent for irrigation
purpose. The blasting activity has adversely
affected the fauna and the animals like tiger, lion,
deer and even hare, fox, wild cats and birds have
disappeared from the mining area.
The overburden, washoff, discharge of mine water
etc. pollute the water. The Maton mines have badly
polluted the Ahar river. The hills around the mines are
devoid of any vegetation except a few scattered
patches and the hills are suffering from acute soil
erosion.
