Conservation of minerals and mineral governance

Detail

Why minerals must be conserved

• Non-renewable resource means a resource that forms far more slowly than we use it. Once used, it does not come back in a human lifetime.
• Minerals form over millions of years, through geological processes such as cooling of magma, deposition in sedimentary layers, or weathering.

• Humans use them up within decades.

• Workable deposits are a tiny share of the Earth's crust. Most of the crust holds minerals in very low amounts. Only a small fraction is rich enough to mine at a profit.

• Mining gets costlier over time. The chain runs like this:
• Mines first take the shallow, high-grade ore (ore with a high share of metal).
• Later the miners must dig deeper, and the ore grade (the share of useful metal in the rock) falls.

• So each tonne of metal needs more digging, energy and money.

• Conclusion: finite stock + rising cost means India must plan its mineral use for the long term.

Measures of conservation (NCERT)

Measure	What it means	Example / where it matters
Planned, sustainable use	Use minerals in a planned way so the needs of the present are met without using up the share of future generations	National-level mineral planning
Better technology for low-grade ores	Make poor ores usable at low cost	Beneficiation: removing waste rock to raise the metal content of an ore. Pelletisation: rolling iron-ore fines (dust-like particles) into small balls that a blast furnace can use
Recycling of scrap metal	Melt and reuse old metal	Most important for copper, lead and zinc, where India's reserves are meagre
Substitutes for scarce metals	Use a common material in place of a rare one	e.g. aluminium or plastic in place of copper in some uses (Class 10 activity)
Renewable energy in place of exhaustible fuels	Solar, wind, tidal and other renewable energy in place of coal, petroleum and natural gas	Saves fossil-fuel minerals
Less export of strategic and scarce minerals	Keep scarce minerals at home so reserves last longer	Class 12 point

Recent policy for conservation and the circular economy

• Circular economy means an economy where materials are reused, recycled and recovered instead of being dumped after one use.
• National Mineral Policy 2019: the policy framework that guides sustainable mining, exploration and the governance of minerals.
• Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019: sets up a system to collect, take apart and process scrap from old vehicles and other sources. The steel scrap then goes back to steel makers, so they need less iron ore.
• Urban mining means recovering metals from waste in cities, mainly e-waste (old phones, computers and batteries). One tonne of e-waste can hold more metal than one tonne of natural ore.
• Critical Mineral Recycling Incentive Scheme (Cabinet, 2025):
• Size: ₹1,500 crore. It is part of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) [5].
• Period: six years, FY 2025-26 to FY 2030-31 [5].
• Feedstock (the waste it recycles): e-waste, lithium-ion battery (LIB) scrap, and other scrap such as catalytic converters from old vehicles [5].
• Incentive: a 20% capex subsidy on plant and machinery (capex: money spent to build or buy fixed assets), plus an opex subsidy linked to extra sales over the base year 2025-26 (opex: money spent to run a plant) [5].
• One-third of the money is kept for small and new recyclers, including start-ups [5].
• Target: at least 270 kilotonnes of yearly recycling capacity, about 40 kilotonnes of critical minerals a year, about ₹8,000 crore of investment and about 70,000 jobs [5].

Mineral exploration stages (UNFC)

• UNFC (United Nations Framework Classification) is a global system for grading mineral deposits. It grades them by how well they have been studied. India uses it under the Mineral (Evidence of Mineral Contents) Rules 2015.
• Exploration moves step by step. Each step adds confidence about how big the deposit is and how rich it is.

Stage	Code	What is done	Confidence
Reconnaissance	G4	Regional survey with geological maps, remote sensing and a few samples to find promising zones	Lowest
Preliminary exploration	G3	Wider-spaced drilling and sampling; gives an inferred resource (a first estimate based on limited data)	Low
General exploration	G2	Closer drilling; size and grade are known better	Medium
Detailed exploration	G1	Dense drilling and testing; enough to plan a mine	Highest

• Order to remember: G4 → G3 → G2 → G1. Confidence rises as the number falls.
• Example (Reasi, Jammu and Kashmir):
• GSI did a G3-stage project on bauxite, rare earth elements and lithium in the Salal-Haimna area of Reasi district during field seasons 2020-21 and 2021-22 [6].
• It confirmed an inferred resource (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium ore [6].

• This is ore, not pure lithium. The figure is only an early (G3) estimate.

• Faster auctions: recent reforms let some critical-mineral blocks be auctioned at the G3 or G4 stage, so private firms can finish the exploration. This saves time.

Agencies of mineral governance

Agency	Year	Role
Geological Survey of India (GSI)	1851	Explores and maps minerals; Ministry of Mines
Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM)	1948	Regulates mining, approves mining plans, checks conservation of minerals in mines
National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET)	2015	Funds exploration

• NMET in 2024: it had approved 120 exploration and procurement projects at an approved cost of ₹609.54 crore. In 2024 (January–November), ₹894.57 crore accrued to the fund and ₹292.11 crore was spent [7].

The law: MMDR Act 1957 and its amendments

• MMDR Act (Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act) 1957 is the main central law for major minerals (e.g. iron ore, bauxite, copper, limestone).
• Minor minerals (e.g. building stone, sand, gravel, ordinary clay) are left to the states. States make their own rules under Section 15.

Amendment	Key changes
2015	Auction of mineral concessions in place of discretionary allotment (allotment at an official's choice); created the DMF and the NMET
2021	Removed the difference between captive mines (ore used only in the owner's own plant) and merchant mines (ore sold in the market)
2023 (passed August 2023)	Critical-mineral reforms (see below)

• District Mineral Foundation (DMF): a trust in every mining district. Miners pay money into it, and the money is used for people and areas hurt by mining.
• By November 2024, ₹1,02,083.03 crore had been collected across India [7].
• ₹87,357.28 crore had been sanctioned for 3.60 lakh projects; 2.01 lakh projects were complete and ₹54,892 crore had been spent [7].

MMDR Amendment Act 2023: the critical minerals reform

• Critical minerals are minerals needed for new technology, clean energy and defence whose supply is at risk, e.g. lithium, cobalt, nickel and the rare earth elements (REEs).
• The three main changes:
• Six minerals taken off the list of 12 atomic minerals. The list is in Part B of the First Schedule. Lithium-bearing minerals are among the six [2].
  • Why: these minerals are used in space, electronics and energy technology [2].
  • Effect: atomic minerals can be mined only by government bodies, so removing them lets private firms take part.
• Only the Centre can auction 24 critical and strategic minerals. These are listed in Part D of the First Schedule [2]. The states still receive the revenue.

• New exploration licence (EL) for deep-seated and critical minerals, listed in the new Seventh Schedule [2].

  • Deep-seated minerals lie far below the surface, so they are hard and costly to find.
  • The EL lets the holder carry out both reconnaissance and prospecting [2].
  • Karnataka and Rajasthan were the first states to auction ELs, on 6 March 2024. Karnataka's block was for gold, copper and lithium [3].

• Royalty for lithium: on 12 October 2023, the Cabinet fixed it at 3% [4]. Royalty is the payment a miner makes to the government for each unit of mineral taken out.

Rules on mining practice

• Mineral Conservation and Development Rules (MCDR): these rules make mines follow scientific mining. Miners must avoid waste of ore, store low-grade ore separately for later use, and restore land after mining.
• Star rating of mines: IBM rates mines from 1 to 5 stars on sustainable mining. Things checked include land restoration, use of waste and care for local people.
• 68 mines got a five-star rating for 2022-23. They were honoured on 7 August 2024 [7].

Prelims Hooks

• Exploration order by rising confidence: G4 (reconnaissance) → G3 (preliminary) → G2 (general) → G1 (detailed). Trap: G1 is the most advanced stage, not the first.
• Reasi lithium (Salal-Haimna, J&K) = 5.9 million tonnes of lithium ore, an inferred resource at G3. It is not a proven reserve [6].
• Agency years: GSI 1851 → IBM 1948 → NMET 2015. GSI explores, IBM regulates, NMET funds.
• MMDR Amendment 2023: removed 6 of 12 atomic minerals, including lithium, from the list; the Centre auctions 24 critical minerals (Part D, First Schedule); exploration licence minerals are in the Seventh Schedule [2].
• First exploration licence auctions: Karnataka and Rajasthan, 6 March 2024 [3].
• Royalty on lithium = 3% (October 2023) [4].
• Minor minerals are regulated by states (Section 15, MMDR Act). Trap: sand is not a central subject.
• DMF and NMET came with the 2015 amendment. The captive–merchant distinction ended in 2021.
• Critical Mineral Recycling Scheme: ₹1,500 crore, FY 2025-26 to 2030-31; feedstock is e-waste, LIB scrap and catalytic converters [5].
• NCERT: recycling matters most for copper, lead and zinc, because India's reserves of these are meagre.

Mains Points

• Why conserve (GS-III): minerals are finite, workable deposits are small, and costs rise as mines go deeper and ore grades fall. Responses include beneficiation and pelletisation of low-grade ores, scrap recycling (Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019), substitutes, renewables and less export of strategic minerals.
• Critical-mineral security: the 2023 MMDR reform opens lithium and REEs to private players, gives the Centre power to auction 24 minerals, and adds exploration licences for deep-seated deposits [2][3]. Early G3/G4 auctions speed up discovery, but deposits such as Reasi are still only at the inferred stage [6].
• Circular economy and urban mining: the ₹1,500 crore recycling scheme aims at 270 kt of recycling capacity and about 40 kt of critical minerals a year. This cuts import dependence and e-waste pollution together [5].
• Equity and sustainability in mining areas: DMF collections of over ₹1 lakh crore by 2024 [7], MCDR and star rating push benefit-sharing and scientific mining. Problems remain: slow spending of DMF money (₹54,892 crore spent of ₹87,357 crore sanctioned) [7] and weak control of minor-mineral (sand) mining at the state level.