Atomic and beach-sand minerals, and rare earths

Detail

1. What "atomic minerals" are

• Atomic minerals are minerals that hold elements used in nuclear energy, mainly uranium and thorium.
• The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) is a unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It finds and measures deposits of uranium, thorium, niobium, tantalum, beryllium, lithium, zirconium, titanium and rare earths that contain uranium and thorium [6].
• Thorium is a prescribed substance. This means only the DAE may handle it [4].

2. Uranium: where it occurs

• Uranium is a radioactive metal. It is the fuel for India's present nuclear reactors.
• In India it occurs in Dharwar rocks. These are very old (Precambrian) metamorphic rocks of the Peninsula, rich in metallic minerals.
• NCERT locations:
• the Singhbhum copper belt (Jharkhand)
• Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan)
• Durg (Chhattisgarh)
• Bhandara (Maharashtra)

• Kullu (Himachal Pradesh)

• Total resource: by September 2025, AMD had found 4,36,700 tonnes of in-situ U₃O₈ in 47 deposits [6]. In-situ means the uranium is still in the ground and has not been mined yet.

• The 47 deposits are spread over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra [6].

3. Uranium mines

• Jaduguda uranium mine (East Singhbhum, Jharkhand) was India's first uranium mine. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) started mining here in 1967 [6].
• Other mines nearby in the Singhbhum belt: Turamdih, Bagjata, Banduhurang.

• AMD has also found 26,437 tonnes of in-situ U₃O₈ at Jaduguda North (Baglasai-Mechua), between Jaduguda and the Bhatin mine [6].

• Tummalapalle (Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh) is one of the world's larger low-grade uranium deposits. Low-grade means a lot of rock holds only a little uranium.

• The Tummalapalle group of deposits holds 1,19,930 tonnes of U₃O₈ [6].

• UCIL opened an underground mine and a processing plant here in 2012. Each can handle 3,000 tonnes of ore per day [7].

• Where UCIL works now: seven mines and two ore-processing plants in Jharkhand, plus one mine and plant at Tummalapalle (AP) [6].

• Problems:
• Domiasiat (West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya) has a uranium deposit, but local people oppose mining there.
• Tailings ponds at Jaduguda raise health worries. Tailings are the waste slurry left after the uranium has been taken out of the ore.

4. Thorium and monazite

• Monazite is a phosphate mineral. It is the main source of thorium and rare earth elements (REEs).

• Monazite holds about 55–60% total rare earth oxides and about 9–10% thorium oxide [4].

• NCERT says the world's richest monazite deposits are in Palakkad and Kollam (Kerala), near Visakhapatnam (AP) and in the Mahanadi delta (Odisha).

• The Kerala beach-sand belt actually lies on the Chavara–Neendakara coast of Kollam and Alappuzha. Palakkad is inland, so it is not part of this coastal belt (NCERT: Palakkad and Kollam).

• Resource size: about 13.15 million tonnes of monazite, holding about 7.23 million tonnes of REO (rare earth oxide) equivalent [4].

• Coastal beach sands and teri (red sand dunes) in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat [4].

• Inland alluvium (sand and silt left by rivers) in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu [4].

• Why thorium matters: it fuels Stage 3 of India's three-stage nuclear programme. India has little uranium but a lot of thorium.

• IREL makes nuclear-grade thorium oxide and sends it to BARC and the Nuclear Fuel Complex to develop thorium fuel [4].

5. Beach-sand minerals

• Beach-sand minerals are heavy minerals (minerals denser than common quartz sand) that collect on beaches.
• How they form (cause → process → result):
• Rivers wear down old crystalline rocks of the Peninsula and carry the grains to the sea.
• Waves and currents wash the beach again and again. Light quartz is carried away, and heavy grains stay behind.

• The result is a placer deposit, which is a layer rich in heavy minerals on the beach.

• Main coasts: Kerala (Chavara), Tamil Nadu (Manavalakurichi, Kanniyakumari district), Odisha (Chhatrapur, Ganjam district) and Andhra Pradesh.

Mineral	What it gives	Main use
Ilmenite	Titanium	Titanium dioxide, a white pigment used in paints and toothpaste; titanium metal
Rutile	Titanium (purer)	Titanium metal for aircraft; welding rods
Zircon	Zirconium	Ceramics; zircaloy tubes that hold nuclear fuel
Garnet	—	Abrasive (for grinding and sand-blasting)
Sillimanite	Aluminium silicate	Refractories (bricks that can take great heat)
Monazite	Thorium, REEs	Nuclear fuel; magnets

• Ownership rule: since 2019, only government bodies may mine beach sands that contain monazite. In practice this is mainly IREL (India) Ltd. The rule comes under the Atomic Minerals Concession Rules, 2016.
• IREL is fully owned by the DAE. It is the only company in India that processes monazite into rare earth compounds and thorium [4].
• It has plants at Aluva (Kerala) and Chatrapur (Odisha) [5].
• Kerala Minerals & Metals Ltd also produces heavy-mineral concentrates [5].

6. Rare earth elements (REEs)

• Rare earth elements are 17 metals: the 15 lanthanides (lanthanum to lutetium) plus scandium and yttrium.

• They are not actually scarce in the Earth's crust. The problem is that deposits rich enough to mine are rare [8].

• Uses:

• Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets for EV motors, wind turbines, electronics and defence.

• Magnets are the biggest use of rare earths worldwide [8].

• India's position:

• India held about 6% of world reserves in 2023 [5]. Most of this is in monazite sands.
• Mine output was 2,900 tonnes REO in 2025, out of a world total of 3,90,000 tonnes [8].
• USGS lists India's reserves as "not available" in 2026. An OSCOM report from 2015 gave monazite reserves of 2,56,000 tonnes at its own operations [8]. OSCOM is IREL's Odisha Sands Complex at Chhatrapur.

• India refines very little and makes very few magnets.

• China's position:

• China mined 2,70,000 tonnes in 2025, about 69% of world output [8].
• It holds 44 million tonnes of the world's more than 75 million tonnes of reserves (USGS 2026) [8].

• China is even more dominant in refining and magnet-making.

• China's export curbs in 2025:

• April 2025: China put export controls on samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium [8].
• October 2025: it added europium, holmium, erbium, thulium and ytterbium [8].
• November 2025: it suspended the October controls for one year. The April controls stayed in force [8].
• Indian EV makers were hit by the shortage of magnets.

7. Rare Earth Permanent Magnet (REPM) scheme

• Approved: by the Union Cabinet on 26 November 2025. Its full name is the "Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets" [2].

• A sintered magnet is made by pressing metal powder and heating it until the grains fuse into a solid block, without melting it.

• Money: a total of ₹7,280 crore [2]:

• ₹6,450 crore as incentives linked to magnet sales over 5 years

• ₹750 crore as capital subsidy for building plants

• Target: 6,000 MTPA (metric tonnes per annum) of integrated magnet capacity [2]. Integrated means one plant covers every step, from rare earth oxide to finished magnet.

• Up to five firms, chosen by global competitive bidding. Each firm gets up to 1,200 MTPA [2].
• The scheme runs 7 years: 2 years to build the plant (gestation) and 5 years of incentives [2].
• The Ministry of Heavy Industries has issued the global tender [3].

Prelims Hooks

• India's first uranium mine: Jaduguda, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand. UCIL began mining here in 1967.
• Tummalapalle is in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. It is a large low-grade uranium deposit, and its mine and plant started in 2012.
• Uranium host rock is the Dharwar system. NCERT sites: Singhbhum, Udaipur, Alwar, Jhunjhunu, Durg, Bhandara and Kullu.
• Monazite is a phosphate mineral. It is the source of thorium + REEs and holds about 9–10% ThO₂ and 55–60% REO.
• Place–state pairs: Chavara → Kerala; Manavalakurichi → Tamil Nadu; Chhatrapur → Odisha; Domiasiat → Meghalaya.
• REEs = 17 elements: 15 lanthanides + scandium + yttrium. Trap: thorium and uranium are not REEs.
• Titanium minerals: ilmenite and rutile. Zircon gives zirconium. Garnet is used as an abrasive. Sillimanite is a refractory.
• REPM scheme: ₹7,280 crore, 6,000 MTPA, approved November 2025, run by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
• Only monazite processor in India: IREL, a DAE company.

Mains Points

• Thorium paradox (GS-III energy): India has huge thorium in monazite but little uranium. This is why the three-stage programme was designed. But Stage 3 is still far away, so thorium stays mostly unused while uranium is imported.
• Strategic dependence (GS-III): India has about 6% of world rare earth reserves but almost no refining or magnet-making. China controls about 69% of mining and even more of processing. Its 2025 curbs showed how exposed EV, wind and defence supply chains are. The REPM scheme, IREL's monazite processing and exploration are India's response.
• Coastal placer mining and the environment (GS-I/III): beach-sand mining in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha can cause coastal erosion and radiation exposure, and it affects fishing communities. State control since 2019 cuts illegal mining but may slow investment.
• Social cost of uranium mining: tailings at Jaduguda raise health concerns, and opposition at Domiasiat stalls a deposit. Safe tailings management and consent of local and tribal people are needed before uranium mining can grow.