Minerals, ores and their classification

Detail

What is a mineral?

• Mineral: a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties (Class 12 definition).
• Organic means it came from living things, such as coal from buried plants.

• Inorganic means it did not come from living things, such as iron ore or mica.

• Geologists use the Class 10 definition: "a homogenous, naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure".

• Homogenous: the same all the way through.

• Definable internal structure: its atoms are arranged in a fixed, regular pattern.

• More than 2,000 minerals are known, but only a few are common.

• Rocks are combinations of minerals. Some rocks are made of a single mineral. Limestone is one example.
• A mineral's colour, hardness, crystal form, lustre and density change with the physical and chemical conditions in which it formed. Lustre means how the surface shines.
• Most of India's valuable minerals are pre-Palaeozoic. This means they are more than about 540 million years old. They lie in the igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Peninsular plateau.
• Igneous rocks form when molten rock cools.

• Metamorphic rocks are rocks changed by heat and pressure.

• India produces about 100 minerals: 4 fuel, 11 metallic and 52 non-metallic minerals, with minor minerals making up the rest (MoSPI Statistical Year Book, data for 2009-10) [3].

Who studies minerals, and how

Geographers	Geologists
Study where minerals are found (distribution)	Study how minerals form, their age, and their physical and chemical composition
Study the economic activities based on minerals (mining, industry, trade)	Classify minerals by how they formed

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is India's main agency for assessing mineral resources. It was set up in 1851 and is one of India's oldest earth-science agencies [3].
• The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) collects exploration data and makes mineral maps. It has both regulatory and service roles [3].
• The Ministry of Mines handles survey and exploration of all minerals except petroleum and natural gas. It administers all mines and minerals except coal, natural gas and petroleum [3].

Minerals in daily life (Class 10 hooks)

• Toothpaste contains:
• silica (an abrasive, which scrubs the teeth clean)
• fluoride, which comes from fluorite
• titanium oxide, which makes it white. It comes from rutile and ilmenite.

• mica, which gives the sparkle.

• Light bulb: almost every part is made from minerals, from the glass to the metal wires.

• Nutrition: minerals are only about 0.3% of what we eat, but the body cannot work without them.
• Rutile and ilmenite come from beach sands in India. IREL (India) Ltd mines them at:
• Chavara (Kerala)
• Manavalakurichi (Tamil Nadu)
• Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM), its flagship unit, in Odisha [2]

IREL also produces zircon, sillimanite and garnet. It runs a Rare Earth Extraction Plant at Chatrapur (Odisha) and a Rare Earth Refining Unit at Aluva (Kerala). It has worked under the Department of Atomic Energy since 1963 [2].

What is an ore?

• Ore: an accumulation of a mineral mixed with other elements, in a concentration high enough to make mining it pay.
• How the ore formed decides how easy and how costly it is to mine.
• A rich, thick deposit near the surface means cheap open-cast mining (digging from the surface).

• A thin, deep vein means costly underground mining.

• Every ore is a mineral, but not every mineral deposit is an ore. If the mineral is too thinly spread, mining it costs more than it earns.

Classification of minerals (Class 12, Fig. 5.1)

Class	Type	Meaning	Examples
Metallic	Ferrous	Contains iron, or is used to make iron and steel	iron ore, manganese, chromite, nickel, cobalt
Metallic	Non-ferrous	Contains no iron	copper, bauxite, lead, zinc, tin
Metallic	Precious	Rare, high-value metals	gold, silver, platinum
Non-metallic	Organic (mineral fuels)	Formed from buried plants and animals	coal, petroleum
Non-metallic	Inorganic	No metal and no organic origin	mica, limestone, graphite, gypsum, dolomite, phosphate

• Metallic minerals give us a metal when they are processed.
• Non-metallic minerals do not give us any metal.

Ferrous minerals

• Ferrous minerals are about three-fourths of the value of India's metallic mineral production.
• They give India a strong base for metallurgical industries, which turn ore into metal.
• India exports large amounts of ferrous minerals after meeting its own needs.
• Iron ore's share of the total value of mineral production rose from 3.6% (2000-01) to 15% (2009-10) [3].
• Odisha produced 36% of iron ore by value in 2009-10. Next came Goa (22%), Karnataka (18%) and Chhattisgarh (16%) [3].

Non-ferrous minerals

• India is poorly endowed with non-ferrous minerals, except bauxite. Bauxite is the ore of aluminium.
• This shortage makes India depend on imports for metals like copper, lead, zinc and tin.

Non-metallic minerals

• Mica is India's most important non-metallic mineral.

• India was the world's largest producer of mica blocks and mica splittings (data for 2009-10) [3].

• Limestone, dolomite and phosphate are mostly used inside the country, for cement, steel and fertiliser.

• In 2009-10, India had 2,999 mines [3]:
• 574 fuel mines
• 700 metal mines

• 1,725 non-metallic mines

• Mines by type in 2009-10: coal 19%, limestone 18%, iron ore 11%, bauxite 7% and manganese ore 5% [3].

• Fuel minerals led in value in 2009-10 [3]:
• crude petroleum 31% of mineral production value
• coal 27% (down from 35% in 2000-01)
• natural gas about 8%

Legal classification (beyond NCERT)

• The MMDR Act 1957 splits minerals into two groups. MMDR stands for Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation).
• Major minerals are controlled by the Centre.

• Minor minerals (sand, building stone and similar) are controlled by the States.

• Each State notifies its own minor minerals and makes its own Minor Mineral Concession Rules [3].

• The Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 set the rules for scientific, environment-friendly mining. They do not apply to coal, atomic minerals or minor minerals [3].
• Atomic minerals (such as uranium and thorium-bearing monazite) are controlled under the Atomic Energy Act.

Critical minerals (2023 onward)

• Critical minerals: minerals that are vital for a country's economy and national security. Their supply is at risk because they are scarce or found in only a few places in the world [2].
• A Ministry of Mines committee, formed in November 2022, identified 30 critical minerals [2].
• 24 of them are placed in Part D of the First Schedule of the MMDR Act.
• For these 24, only the Central Government can auction mining leases and composite licences [2].

• The committee also proposed a Centre of Excellence on Critical Minerals (CECM) to update the list regularly [2].

• Where critical minerals are used [2]:

Use	Critical minerals
Solar panels (PV cells)	silicon, tellurium, indium, gallium
Wind-turbine magnets	rare earth elements (REEs) such as dysprosium and neodymium
EV and storage batteries (lithium-ion)	lithium, nickel, cobalt

• Classification link: nickel and cobalt are classed as ferrous minerals in NCERT, but today they are also critical battery minerals.
• National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) was launched in 2025 [2].
• GSI is to run 1,200 exploration projects from 2024-25 to 2030-31.
• GSI's critical-mineral projects rose from 65 (2020-21) to 195 (2024-25). Of these, 35 are in Rajasthan.
• A new Exploration Licence (EL) is meant to bring in private firms.

• Minerals are also to be recovered from fly ash, tailings and red mud.

• Rare earth finds in Rajasthan [2]:

• GSI surveyed for REEs, including neodymium, in Sirohi and Bhilwara districts during 2021-22 and 2022-23.
• The Department of Atomic Energy found about 1,11,845 tonnes of in-situ rare earth oxide (REO) at Balotra.

Characteristics of minerals

• Uneven distribution: minerals are spread unevenly across space.
• Peninsular India holds most metallic minerals.
• Coal lies mostly in the Damodar, Mahanadi and Godavari valleys.

• For example, in 2009-10 Jharkhand gave 22% of coal value, followed by Madhya Pradesh (16%) and Chhattisgarh (15%) [3].

• Quality and quantity are inversely related: good-quality (high-grade) ore is found in small amounts, and low-grade ore is plentiful.

• Exhaustible: minerals take geological ages to form and cannot be refilled. There is "no second crop", so they must be conserved.
• Workable deposits make up only about 1% of the earth's crust.
• Why mining gets costlier over time:
• The richest ore near the surface is mined first.
• Mines then have to go deeper, and the remaining ore is of lower grade.
• So it costs more to get each tonne of metal, and more waste is left behind.

Prelims Hooks

• Nickel and cobalt are ferrous minerals in NCERT's classification. Copper, bauxite, lead, zinc and tin are non-ferrous.
• Coal and petroleum are non-metallic organic minerals (mineral fuels). Mica, limestone, graphite and gypsum are non-metallic inorganic minerals.
• Bauxite is the only non-ferrous mineral India has in plenty.
• Ferrous minerals make up about three-fourths of the value of India's metallic mineral production.
• Limestone is a rock made of a single mineral.
• Titanium oxide in toothpaste comes from rutile and ilmenite. India mines these from beach sands at Chavara (Kerala), Manavalakurichi (Tamil Nadu) and OSCOM (Odisha).
• 30 critical minerals were identified. 24 are in Part D of the MMDR Act's First Schedule, and the Centre alone auctions them.
• Minor minerals such as sand and building stone are regulated by State governments. The Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 do not apply to coal, atomic minerals or minor minerals.
• GSI was set up in 1851.
• Rare earth sites in Rajasthan: Balotra (about 1,11,845 t of in-situ REO), and Sirohi and Bhilwara, where neodymium was surveyed.

Mains Points

• Uneven distribution means unequal development:
• Minerals are concentrated in the peninsular plateau (Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka).
• Mining-led industry grows there.

• But many of these are tribal and forested districts, where mining causes displacement and harms the environment.

• Inverse quality–quantity relation and exhaustibility:

• High-grade ore is used up first, so mining goes deeper and costs rise.

• Policy answers: beneficiation (upgrading low-grade ore), recycling, using substitutes, and recovering minerals from fly ash, tailings and red mud.

• Gap between plenty and shortage:

• India is rich in ferrous minerals, bauxite and mica.
• It is poor in non-ferrous and critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and REEs.

• This creates import dependence, which threatens clean-energy goals. Policy responses include the critical minerals list, Centre-run auctions under Part D, the NCMM, the Exploration Licence, and buying mineral assets abroad.

• The legal classification shapes governance:

• The Centre controls major minerals and the States control minor minerals.
• Weak State control over minor minerals (sand, building stone) helps explain illegal sand mining and river-bed damage.