India set to auction valuable mineral blocks, including graphite, nickel, and chromium

India set to auction valuable mineral blocks, including graphite, nickel, and chromium

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context:

• India’s Mines Ministry would look at the auction of select critical mineral blocks.

Details:

• Amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act allowed for private investments in select critical minerals, including lithium, the cornerstone for India’s switch to green mobility.
• The Mines Ministry also released a list of 30 key critical minerals, including 17 rare earth elements (REEs) and six platinum-group elements (PGE). These are classified as ‘critical’ because of their economic importance and limited availability in India.

Critical Minerals:

• Critical minerals are elements that are the building blocks of essential modern-day technologies, and are at risk of supply chain disruptions.
• These minerals are now used everywhere from making mobile phones, computers to batteries, electric vehicles and green technologies like solar panels and wind turbines.
• Based on their individual needs and strategic considerations, different countries create their own lists.
• However, such lists mostly include graphite, lithium, cobalt, rare earths and silicon which is a key mineral for making computer chips, solar panels and batteries.
• Aerospace, communications and defence industries also rely on several such minerals as they are used in manufacturing fighter jets, drones, radio sets and other critical equipment.
• Government has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India.  These minerals are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE, Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium.

Rare earth Elements:

• These are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the 15 lanthanides plus scandium (Atomic Number 21) and Yttrium (Atomic Number 39).
• Lanthanide series comprises 15 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum through lutetium.
• Scandium and yttrium are considered rare-earth elements because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties, but have different electronic and magnetic properties.
• Cerium (AN 58) is the most abundant rare earth metal.
• Their colour ranges from Shiny Silver to Iron Gray. They are soft, malleable, ductile and usually reactive, especially at elevated temperatures or when finely divided.
• Its application ranges from Civilian (smartphones, laptops, petroleum refining catalysts) to military including nuclear applications. Rare minerals that are essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines and drones.
• China has the largest reserve (37 percent), followed by Brazil and Vietnam (18 percent each), Russia (15 percent), and the remaining countries (12 percent). Deng Xiaoping said once, The Middle East has oil and China has rare earth.
• Why these elements called RARE?
  • There is no shortage of rare earths. But their extraction is difficult (Requires high skill, Capital intensive, Environmental issues).

Graphite mineral:

• Deposits of economic importance are located in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
• Arunachal Pradesh accounts for 36% of the total resources which is followed by Jammu & Kashmir (29%), Jharkhand (9%) Madhya Pradesh (5%) Odisha (9%), and Tamil Nadu (4%). However, in terms of reserves, Tamil Nadu has the leading share of about 36% followed by Jharkhand (30%) and Odisha (33%) of the total reserves
• Mining can be started in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar.
• Odisha was the leading producing State contributing 42% to the total output during 2020- 21, followed by Tamil Nadu. 
• Active mining centres of graphite are in Palamu district in Jharkhand; Nawapara & Balangir districts in Odisha; and Madurai & Sivagangai districts in Tamil Nadu.
• Graphite is used across industries covering categories like writing instruments, lubricants, refractory, batteries, nuclear reactors and graphene sheets.
• China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of graphite minerals.

Nickel mineral:

• Pentlaudite (a mixture of nickel, iron, and sulfur) is Nickel Ore.
• Nickel is a hard, silvery-white metal. Nickel does not occur naturally. It is found in association with copper, uranium and other metals. It is an important alloying element.
• Mining in Odisha.
• Distribution in India:
  • The Sukinda valley in the Jajapur district of Odisha has significant occurrences of nickeliferous limonite. It appears as oxide here.
  • Nickel occurs in sulphide form alongside copper mineralization in Jharkhand’s east Sighbhum district.
  • Furthermore, it has been discovered in association with uranium deposits in Jaduguda, Jharkhand. Nickel is also found in significant quantities in Karnataka, Kerala, and Rajasthan.
• Global distribution:
  • Indonesia is the world’s largest producer, followed by the Philippines and Russia. Australia has the highest reserves, followed by Brazil, Russia, and Cuba.
• Nickel mineral is currently not mined in India.
• Properties: High tensile strength, magnetic properties, good thermal and electric conductivity, not highly reactive, but can react with strong acids and oxidizing agents.
• It is used as a coating item to slow down corrosion. It is used for a variety of purposes, including the production of coins, nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries; bulletproof jackets, aircraft and internal combustion engine, and also as a catalyst for certain chemical reactions.

Chromium mineral:

• Chromite (Cr) is the only commercially viable chromium ore, also known chemically as iron chromium oxide.
• Industrial production of chromium proceeds from chromite ore (mostly, FeCr2O4) to produce ferro-chromium, an iron-chromium alloy. Ferro-chromium is then used to produce alloys such as stainless steel.
• Chromium increases the strength, hardness, and toughness of its alloys.
• Distribution in India:
  • Odisha has more than 93 per cent of the resources (Sukinda valley in Cuttack and Jajapur). Manipur, Nagaland, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have minor deposits. Odisha is the sole producer of Chromite Ore (around 99 per cent). More than 85% of the ore is of high quality (Keonjhar, Cuttack, and Dhenkanal).
  • Karnataka is the state with the second-highest production. The main production comes from the districts of Mysore and Hassan. Other producers include Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district and Manipur’s Tamenglong and Ukhrul districts.
• Global distribution:
  • South Africa, Kazakhstan, India, Albania, and Turkey are among the countries that mine it.
• Uses of chromium: production of stainless steel, electroplating to provide a hard, durable, and corrosion-resistant coating, alloying element, leather tanning process, used as pigments in paint, ceramics and plastic industries, and used to produce refractory materials, which are used in high-temperature applications such as furnace linings.

Molybdenum mineral:

• It is a refractory metal used principally as an alloying agent in steel, cast iron & superalloys to enhance strength and resistivity to wear & corrosion.
• It does not occur in nature in a free state. Usually, it is found in a chemically combined form with other elements. Molybdenite (MoS2) is the principal ore of molybdenum.
• About two-thirds of global molybdenum production is as a by-product of copper mining and only about one-third is obtained from primary molybdenum mines.
• Distribution In India:
  • By-product concentrates of molybdenum are produced intermittently from the uranium ore of the Jaduguda mine belonging to Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) in Jharkhand. The internal demand for molybdenum and its products is met mostly through imports.
  • Rakha copper deposit in Jharkhand, Malanjkhand copper deposit in Madhya Pradesh, Dariba-Rajpura lead-zinc deposit in Rajasthan, Multimetal deposit at Umpyrtha in Khasi and Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, Karadikuttam in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu,

• Molybdenum block auctions are likely in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• Most molybdenum is used to make alloys. It is used in steel alloys to increase strength, hardness, electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion and wear.
• Global distribution:
  • The world reserves of molybdenum are at 18 million tonnes, located mainly in China (46%), Peru (16%), USA(15%), Chile (8%) and Russia (6%).
• Use of molybdenum:
  • It is a versatile alloying agent for alloy steel, cast iron, nickel, cobalt and titanium alloys.
  • The ‘moly steel’ alloys are also used in parts of engines. Estimate global use of the metal is around 35 per cent in structural steel, 25 per cent in stainless steel, 14 per cent in chemicals, 9 per cent in tool and high-speed steel, and 6 per cent in cast iron, among others.
  • Used as refractory metal,  lubricants, catalysts, pigments, as an additive in oil and greases, in aerosol sprays, in reducing surface friction and as an antiwear and antifriction agent in plastics, critical role in energy industries and green technologies.

Lithium mineral:

• It’s a silvery-white metal with a delicate texture, the lightest metal and the lightest solid element under normal circumstances.
• It is both an alkali and a rare metal.
• Global production:
  • Australia, Chile, China and Argentina are the world’s top four lithium-producing countries.
  • Australia is by far the world’s top producer of lithium, with an output of 42,000 tonnes in 2019.
• Distribution in India:
  • According to the Indian Mines Ministry, the government agencies made the small discovery of lithium resources at a site in Mandya, Karnataka. It is the country’s first lithium reserve.
  • Now, Lithium-influenced resources have been found in the Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir (UT).
  • Other states: Rajasthan and Jharkhand.

Source of this article: TH Businessline