(A) ferrous minerals: ferrous minerals account for about three fourths of the total value of the production of metallic minerals. They provide a strong base for the development of metallurgical industries. India exports substantial quantities of ferrous minerals after meeting her internal demands.
(a) Non ferrous minerals: india’s reserves and production of non features minerals is not very satisfactory. However, these , minerals , which include copper, bauxite, lead, zinc and gold, play a vital role in a number of metallurgical, engineering and electrical industries. Let us study the distribution of copper and bauxite.
Conventional sources of energy:
(a) Conventional sources of energy have been used since the early times.
(b) Coal petroleum natural gas hydro electricity, thermal power are the sources of energy.
(c) All conventional sources of energy except hydro electricity are exhaustible.
(d) These sources cause environmental pollution.
(e) These sources require huge capital.
Non conventional sources of energy:
(a) Non conventional sources of energy have came into the use only recently.
(b) Wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy, geothermal, biogas are example of these sources of energy.
(c) Most of the non conventional sources of energy are inexhaustible.
(d) These sources do not cause environmental pollution.
(e) Small amount of money is sufficient to have these sources.
(ii) geologists define a mineral as a homogeneous naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure. Minerals are found in varied forms in nature ranging from the hardest diamond to the softest one. Minerals are an indispensable part of our lives. Almost everything we use from a tiny pin to a towering building or a big ship all made from minerals. The railway lines and tarmac of the roads our implements and machinery too are made from minerals. Cars, buses, trains, aeroplanes are man manufactured from minerals and run on power resources derived from the earth. Even the food that we eat contains minerals for their livelihood decoration , festivities , religious , and ceremonial rites.
(iii) in igneous and metamorphic rocks minerals may occur in the cracks, crevices, faults or joints. The smaller occurrences are called veins and the larger are called lodes. In most cases they are formed when minerals in liquid molten and gaseous forms are forced upward through cavities towards the earth surface. They cool and lead etc. are obtained from veins and lodes.
(iv) in order to conserve mineral resources we must see to that our consumption of minerals does not increase our wants. We must remember that these resources are one of the greatest gifts of god and we must use these in such a manner that our future generations also enjoy this gift.
