PMF IAS Current Affairs
PMF IAS Current Affairs

Bauxite, Lead & Zinc, Tungsten & Pyrites Distribution across India and World

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Distribution of Key Natural Resources across India and World. Bauxite | Lead & Zinc – Galena | Tungsten – Wolfram | Pyrites Distribution in India & World.

Bauxite

  • 80 % of bauxite [ore of aluminium] ore is used for making aluminium.
  • Found mainly as hydrated aluminium oxides.
  • Total resources == 3,480 million tonnes == 84 per cent resource are of metallurgical grade

Bauxite Distribution in India

  • Odisha alone accounts for 52 per cent
  • Andhra Pradesh 18 per cent
  • Gujarat 7 per cent
  • Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra 5 per cent each
  • Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand 4 per cent.
  • Major bauxite resources are in the east coast in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
  • India manages to export small quantities of bauxite.
  • Major importers are Italy (60%), U.K. (25%), Germany (9%) and Japan (4%).

Bauxite Distribution in India - Bauxite in India

Odisha

  • Largest bauxite producing state.
  • One-third of the total production of India.
  • Kalahandi and Koraput districts.
  • Extends further into Andhra Pradesh
  • The main deposits occur in Kalahandi, Koraput, Sundargarh, Bolangir and Sambalpur districts.

Chhattisgarh

  • Second largest producer.
  • Maikala range in Bilaspur, Durg districts and the Amarkantak plateau regions of Surguja, Raigarh and Bilaspur are some of the areas having rich deposits of bauxite.

Maharashtra

  • Third largest producer.
  • Largest deposits occur in Kolhapur district.
  • Kolhapur district contain rich deposits with alumina content 52 to 89 per cent.
  • Other districts: Thane, Ratnagiri, Satara and Pune.

Jharkhand

  • Ranchi, Lohardaga, Palamu and Gumla districts.
  • High grade ore occurs in Lohardaga.

Gujarat

  • Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kheda, Kachchh, Sabarkantha, Amreli and Bhavnagar.
  • The most important deposits occur in a belt lying between the Gulf of Kachchh and the Arabian sea through Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Amreli districts.
  • Amarkantak plateau area, the Maikala range in Shandol, Mandla and Balaghat districts and the Kotni area of Jabalpur district are the main producers.

Bauxite Distribution – World

Bauxite Distribution – World BauxiteProduction World

  • Australia (31.34%),
  • China (18.41%),
  • Brazil (13.93%),
  • Guinea (8.36%), etc.

Lead

  • Malleable [can be hammered into thin sheets], soft, heavy and bad conductor.
  • Lead is a constituent in bronze alloy and is used as an anti-friction metal.
  • Lead oxide is used in cable covers, ammunition, paints, glass making and rubber industry.
  • It is also made into sheets, tubes and pipes which are used as sanitary fittings.
  • It is now increasingly used in automobiles, aeroplanes, and calculating machines.
  • Lead nitrate is used in dyeing and printing.
  • Lead does not occur free in nature. It occurs as a cubic sulphide known as GALENA.
  • Galena is found in veins in limestones, calcareous slates and sandstones.

Zinc

  • Zinc is a mixed ore containing lead & zinc.
  • Zinc is found in veins in association with galena, chalcopyrites, iron pyrites and other sulphide ores.
  • It is mainly used for alloying and for manufacturing galvanized sheets.
  • It is also used for dry batteries, electrodes, textiles, die-casting, rubber industry and for making collapsible tubes containing drugs, pastes and the like.

Distribution of Lead and Zinc ores – India and World

  • Rajasthan is endowed with the largest resources of lead-zinc ore (88.61 per cent),
  • Andhra Pradesh (3.31 per cent),
  • Madhya Pradesh (2.16 per cent),
  • Bihar (1.67 per cent)
  • Maharashtra 9 (1.35 per cent).
  • Almost the entire production comes from Rajasthan.

Distribution of Lead and Zinc ores - India and World

Tungsten

  • Ore of Tungsten is called
  • Most important property is that of self-hardening which it imparts to steel.
  • Over 95 per cent of the worlfram is used by the steel industry.
  • Steel containing the requisite proportion of tungsten is mainly used in manufacturing amunitions, armour plates, heavy guns, hard cutting tools, etc.
  • Tungsten is easily alloyed with chromium, nickel, molybdenum, titanium, etc. to yield a number of hard facing, heat and corrosion resistant alloys.
  • It is also used for various other purposes such as electric bulb filaments, paints, ceramics, textiles, etc.

Distribution of Wolfram

  • Karnataka (42 per cent)
  • Rajasthan (27 per cent)
  • Andhra Pradesh (17 per cent)
  • Maharashtra (9 per cent)
  • Remaining 5 per cent resources are in Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal
  • Domestic requirements are met by imports.

Pyrites

  • Pyrite is a sulphide of iron.
  • Chief source of sulphur.
  • High proportion of sulphur is injurious to iron. Hence is it removed and used to produce sulphur.
  • Sulphur is very useful for making sulphuric acid which in turn is used in several industries such as fertilizer, chemicals, rayon, petroleum, steel, etc.
  • Elemental sulphur is useful for manufacturing explosives, matches, insecticides, fungicides and for vulcanizing rubber
  • Pyrites occur in Son Valley in Bihar, in Chitradurga and Uttar Kannada districts of Karnataka and the pyritous coal and shale of Assam coalfields.
  • It is widely distributed and scattered across the country.

Primary References: NCERT Geography, Indian Geography by Kullar [Amazon and Flipkart], Wikipedia, Geology.com

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