Mineral-based industries

Geography glossary

Topic: Secondary Activities: Manufacturing and Industrial Location · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 6 "Manufacturing Industries"; Class 12, Ch 5 "Secondary Activities"

Meaning

Mineral-based industries use minerals as their raw material. There are three groups:

  • ferrous minerals (those containing iron) for the iron and steel industry;
  • non-ferrous minerals (metal ores with no iron, such as bauxite and copper ore) for aluminium, copper and jewellery;
  • non-metallic minerals, such as limestone and clay, for cement and pottery.

Many mineral ores lose a lot of weight during processing. This pulls industries such as steel and cement towards the mines. Aluminium smelting uses huge amounts of power, so it is drawn to cheap electricity.

Example

Aluminium smelters at Hirakud in Odisha and Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh use cheap hydroelectric power to turn alumina into aluminium.

Don't confuse with

  • Chemical-based industries: these use chemical minerals such as petroleum, salts, sulphur and potash, or chemicals from wood and coal, to make plastics and synthetic fibres.

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