Mineral Resources Of Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK In English)

Jharkhand is blessed with rich luxurious mineral resources. According to the Department of Mines, Industry and Geology of Jharkhand Government, it has around 40% of total mineral reserves of the country. Jharkhand has a share of 7.37% of the total value of minerals production in India. For the richness of minerals, Jharkhand is known as Ruhr of India. In Jharkhand, different minerals are found due to which it is also known as Ratnagarbha.
The Damodar valley in the state is known as Storehouse ofMinerals. The minerals in the state are an important source of industrial development. The state is rich in granite deposits all over the region. The 'Jharkhand StateMineralDevelopment Corporation Limited' is the agency involved in state to develop and facilitate mineral based activities in Jharkhand.

Classification of Minerals in Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

The minerals of the state can be categorised into three groups: 1. Metallic Minerals 2. Non-metallic Minerals 3. Atomic Minerals

1. Metallic Minerals

It includes iron ore,manganese, chromite, copper, tungsten and vanadium, bauxite, gold, silver, tin, zinc, etc. Some important metallic minerals are given below:

Iron Ore

▸ As per the Economic Survey 2018-19, Jharkhand ranks 2nd in the production of iron-ore in the country. It has considerable reserve of hematite and small amount of magnetite.
▸ It produces around 16.8% of iron-ore of the nation. Important mines of hematite iron ore are located in Noamundi, Pansaria Buru, Kiruburu, Budaburu, Jamda, Jhilingburu, Lokudburu, Notuburu, Gorumahisani, etc.
▸ The iron ore from these mines provides raw material (iron ore) to the steel plants of Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Durgapur, Bhilai, etc.
Small amount of magnetite iron ore is also found near Daltonganj.
▸ Total deposits of iron ore in Jharkhand is 4596.62 million tonnes. Jharkhand has 25% of Iron ore reserve in India.
▸ India's largest Iron ore mine with reserves of 2,000 million tonnes of Iron ore is located at Chiria in West Singhbhum district. The mine is operated by Steel Authority of India Limited.
▸ Noamundi is a major producer of iron ore in Asia. Iron ore deposits extend in linear belt in Southern part of Singhbhum of 48 km length.
Western Singhbhum is the main producer of iron ore. First mine of Iron ore came into existance in 1904 at West Singhbhum district.

Bauxite

▸ As per the Economic Survey of 2018-19, Jharkhand ranks seventh in terms of production of bauxite in India.
▸ Jharkhand produces around 10.53% of bauxite of the country. Rich deposits of bauxite are found in 'Pat' region of Ranchi and Palamu districts and neighbouring plateau of Lohardaga and Gumla.
▸ The important mines of bauxite are located at Bagru, Dudha, Serendag, Khamar, Banjari, Pakri, Auranga, Banda, etc. Bauxite refining factories are located at Muri and Lohardaga.
▸ Most of the bauxite is transported to HINDALCO at Renukut in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh and at Muri in Ranchi district of Jharkhand. In Muri (Ranchi), the largest bauxite melting plant is located.
▸ Hindalco Industries Limited at Muri (Ranchi) is India's first Alumina Refinery Commissioned in 1948.
Hindalco temporarily suspended operations at Muri in April, 2019.

Copper

▸ It is a very useful metal. It is used in manufacture of electrical cables, electrical equipments, alloys, utensils, etc.
▸ Jharkhand has the reserve of 93.06 lakh tonnes which is about 26% of India's total deposits of copper.
▸ East Singhbhum district has large copper deposits. Hindustan Copper Limited is located at Moubhandar, Ghatshila in Jharkhand.
▸ Since 1924, the copper mining in Jharkhand is done by Indian Copper Complex at Ghatshila. Copper Belt comprising Proterozoic rocks create a shear zone known as Singhbhum Shear Zone.
▸ Copper deposits extend to 130 km in length and 17 km in width. This belt exists from Chakradharpur to Baharagora through Kharsawan, Seraikela and Dhalbhum. The districts of Hazaribagh, Giridih, Sahibganj (Rajmahal), Palamu and Garhwa lies in this belt.
▸ As per Economic Survey 2018-19, Jharkhand ranks third in the country in terms of production of copper.

Manganese

▸ It is found with iron ore deposits in the South-Eastern part of the state. It is found in Dharwar rocks in Jharkhand.
▸ The important mines of Manganese are found at Gua, Noamundi, Jamda, Chaibasa and Limtu, Kalenda and Bansadera. It is also found in Purbi and Pashchimi Singhbhum, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh.
▸ It is used in steel, glass, electrical and chemical industries. Its products are chlorine, battery, glass, bleaching powder, etc.
▸ The state has the estimated reserves of 2.9 million tonnes and the annual production is about 3 thousand tonnes.
▸ Jharkhand is the sole producer of Manganese in India.

Chromite

▸ It is the main source of chromium. It is found at Jojahatu in Pashchimi Singhbhum and Karaikela near Seraikela.
▸ The reserves of chromium are also found at Doruburu, Kitaburu, Kinsiburu and Chitangburu.
▸ It is extracted from Dunite, Peridotite and Serpentine rocks. Its annual production is about 170 tonnes.
▸ Jharkhand ranks second in India in the production of chromite. It is also used in iron and steel industry.

Gold and Silver

▸ Gold is found in the valleys of Son, Subarnarekha and Damodar. The particles of gold are collected from sands of the river.
▸ Gold is also found in the bed of rivers South Koel, Sunakhari, Garanadi and in Sonopet valley of Ranchi.
▸ Five new deposits of gold found in Kubasal, Sonopet, Jargo and Serengeti in Ranchi district of Jharkhand.
▸ In Jharkhand, 300-500 kg of gold is produced every year by Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL).
▸ Silver is found with the mixture of lead, zinc, sulphur and copper. It is found in Hazaribagh, Palamu, Chatra, Ranchi, Singhbhum and Santhal Pargana.
▸ Its production in Jharkhand is 11073 kilograms, which is nearly 31% of the total production in country.

Zinc and Tin

▸ Zinc is found in Hazaribagh, Dumka, Deoghar, Ranchi and Pashchimi Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand.
▸ Tin is obtained from a mineral named Cassiterite, which is found in Hazaribagh, Palamu, Ranchi, Dumka and Pashchimi Singhbhum districts.
▸ Tin is resistant to corrosion, thus a thin coating of tin over iron protects it from rusting.

Tungsten and Vanadium

▸ The main mineral of tungsten is wolframite, a compound of tungsten and manganese.
▸ It is found at Hazaribagh and Kalimati of Pashchimi Singhbhum district.
▸ It is used in mainly electrical industry.
▸ Hazaribagh produce 14% of Tungsten in India.
▸ Vanadium is found at Dunlawton and Dubelaber in Pashchimi Singhbum district of Jharkhand.

Pyrite

▸ It is found in Musabani in Purbi Singhbhum district.
▸ It is a mining town since the British period.

2. Non-Metallic Minerals

Some important non-metallic minerals are as given below:

Coal

▸ As per Economic Survey 2018-19, Jharkhand ranks first in India in the production of coal, which produces nearly 72.2 billion tonnes of India's total coal production.
▸ Coal found in Jharkhand is of bituminous and anthracite type of Gondwana period.
▸ In Jharkhand first time coal mining began in Jharia in 1894 under Damodar valley coal area.
The coal mines of the state is divided into five major regions: Damodar Valley Coal Area
▸ Best quality of coal mines is located in Damodar valley area, which ranks first in India. It included the areas of Chandrapura, Jharia, Bokaro, Ramgarh and Karanpura.
▸ In Jharkhand 95% of coals are produced here. Jharia is the largest producer of coal in this valley. It is the main area of coking coal producer.
▸ Jharia coal field is located in Bokaro and Dhanbad district of Jharkhand.
The coal fields stretch 39 km from East to West and 19km from North to South. Best quality of coking coal is found here.
▸ In Bokaro, the 64 km long and 11 km wide coal belt is stretched. Total area of this coal field is 374 sq km.
▸ The Bokaro coal belt is divided into two parts i.e. Eastern Bokaro and Western Bokaro.
▸ Karnapura coal area contains 42 meters thick layers of coal. Total area of this coal belt is 1424 sq km. It is divided into Northern and Southern part. In this area, average quality of coal is found.
▸ The estimated deposits of coal in this area is 58 crore tonnes, which has 44 layers.
▸ The area of South Karnapura coal belt is 1230 sq km in which layers of coal are found in an area of 98 sq km.
▸ Ramgarh coal region lies in the west of Karanpura coal field.
▸ This area is spread in 98 sq km. It has 20 coal seams worth mining available upto the depth of 900 meters. The estimated reserves of the area are 1059 million tonnes.
Barakar Basin Area
▸ Barakar basin includes some parts of Hazaribagh and Giridih districts areas.
▸ Hazaribagh has the estimated deposits of coal of 50 crore tonnes and Giridih has best quality of coal about 40 crore tonnes.
▸ Best quality of coal is found in Hazaribagh. This area mainly supplies coal to the railways.
Ajay Basin Area
▸ It includes Jayanti, Kharaiya and Sahjori.
Low quality of coal is found here which has 3-4 layers.
▸ The estimated reservers of coal in this area is 40 crore tonnes.
Rajmahal Coal Area
▸ This coal area has five coal basins i.e.
Pachwara, Chuperbita, Mahuagarhi, Brahmani and Hurra.
▸ This coal area has coal deposits of about 520 sq km, which has estimated reserves of 2680 million tonnes. It spreads from North to South.
▸ In Chuperbita, coal is found in 13 layers and 5 layers in Hurra.
North Koel Valley Basin Area
▸ It includes three coal fields i.e. Auranga, Daltonganj and Hutar.
▸ This coal field area spread over 512 sq km, which has the estimated reserves of coal of 250 crore tonnes.
▸ Auranga belt has reserves of average quality of coal of which is estimated of 2070 million tonnes.
▸ Daltonganj coal field has an area of 322 sq km, which has reserves of 144 million tonnes coal and Hutas has 250 million tonnes of coal reserves.
▸ Auranga and Hutar coal fields have a depth of 600 meters, whereas Daltonganj has the depth of about 300 meters.

Mica

▸ It is found in the form of either white or black particles from igneous and metamorphic rocks.
▸ Jharkhand ranks third in the production of mica and shares 10% of total mica production in India.
▸ The main deposits lies in Koderma.
Koderma is known as the 'Mica Capital of India', more than 50% of total mica production of Jharkhand come from Koderma.
▸ There is a large mica belt stretching 145 kms long and 26 kms width.
▸ White mica found in the state is called Ruby Mica.
▸ Mica is also found in Hazaribagh, Giridih, Daltonganj, Lesliganj, Khori and Bandua in the basin of Koel river.
▸ Koderma and Jhumri Telaiya are main mica industrial centres where different types of mica are processed for markets.

Graphite

▸ It is a form of carbon which is also known as black lead or plumbago.
Both high and low grades graphite is available in high quantity in Jharkhand.
▸ Its deposits are foundmainly in Palamu. Small amount of graphite is also available in Ranchi district.
▸ The estimated reserves of Graphite in Jharkhand is 30.5 lakh tonnes which is 57.47% of total deposits of the country.
▸ The deposits in Palamu are mined mainly by State Mineral Development Corporation and other private parties.
▸ It is used in pencil, colour, painting and nuclear reactor.

Asbestos

▸ It is important because of its fire-resistant quality, it is found in the crystalline Dharwarian rocks.
▸ Its deposits are mainly found in Ranchi and Singhbhum. One of the largest deposits of asbestos is at Bara Bana and Rajnagar in Seraikela.
▸ Asbestos clothes are used to cover different types of boilers and engines. It is also used in jet aeroplanes and missiles.

Fire Clay

▸ It is used in the manufacture of fire-bricks and also in lining material of furnances in steel plants.
▸ It is found in the Damodar basin, South Koel basin, Ranchi, Purbi Singhbhum, etc.

China Clay

▸ It is white powdery clay derived from the decomposition of feldspar in pegmatite, granite, schists, gneisses, etc.
▸ It is found in Ranchi, Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Santhal Parganas.
▸ It is used for bleaching material and textile industry, paper industry, insulator etc.

Limestone

▸ In Jharkhand, linestone is mainly found in Palamu region. It is also found in Ranchi, Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Santhal Pargana and Damodar Basin.
▸ It is used in cement factory, building construction and iron industry.

Lead

▸ Its mineral is galena, which is generally found mixed with zinc and silver.
▸ The deposits of galena are located in Hazaribagh, Santhal Pargana and few places in Palamu, Ranchi and Singhbhum.
▸ It is bad conductor of electricity. It is mainly used in iron and steel industries.
Other uses are in rail engines, motorcars, aeroplanes, battery, etc.

Dolomite

▸ It is mainly found in Palamu (Daltonganj). It is also found in Singhbum and Chaisbasa region.
▸ In Jharkhand the total deposits of dolomite is 51.09 million tonnes.
▸ The annual production of dolomite is 1.66 lakh tonnes. It is used in lead, paper, cement and steel industries.

Kyanite

▸ The deposits of kyanite is found in Lopasaburu in Singhbhum. In terms of production of kyanite, Jharkhand ranks first in the country.
▸ The reserves of kyanite are located in Giridih, Mohanpura and Kaniyal.
▸ It is used for refactory materials.

3. Atomic Minerals

Jharkhand has three atomic minerals namely Uranium, Thorium and Ilmenite. The atomic minerals enable our country to run atomic power plants, which provide more reliable and cheaper power to the people. The three atomic minerals are discussed below:

Uranium

▸ It is extracted from Dharwar and Archean rocks. Jharkhand's uranium is of two types i.e. pegmatite pitchblende and uranium compound.
▸ Purbi Singhbhum region is the major producer of Uranium. Uranium is mostly found in Jaduguda region which is located in East Singhbhum and is famous for uranium reserves.
▸ Jaduguda mine was the first uranium mine in India. It is also found in Jumadih, Narwa, Kayaluka and Kerua.
▸ Bhatin reserves has small deposits of uranium. It is located 3 km from Jaduguda in the West. Uranium is found here at the depth of 215 m.
▸ The uranium reserves of Dumradih, Jaduguda, Bagjata, Narwa, Kanyakula, Jurmadih and Berua Dumri are managed by Uranium Coporation of India Limited (UCIL).
Famous uranium reserves in Jharkhand are as follows: — Narwapahar Mine It is located 12 km from Jaduguda in the West. It has largest deposits of uranium.
— Durmadih Mine It is located 24 km from Jaduguda in the West. It also has deposits of uranium.
— Mohuldih Mine It is located 27 km from Jaduguda in the West.
— Bagjata Mine It is located 30 km from Jaduguda in the South-East.
— Banduhurang Mine It is the West part of Durmadih mine. Open cast mining is done here.

Thorium

▸ It is available in small quantity in the rugged and dissected upper surface of Ranchi plateau.
▸ The estimated reserves of thorium in Jharkhand are only 2 lakh tonnes.

Ilmenite

▸ It is a raw material for producing Titanium, which is used in nuclear powered submarines.
▸ It is found in Ranchi plateau. Jharkhand has 7.4 lakh tonne reserves of Ilmenite.

Minerals and its Distribution

Minerals

Producing Areas

Asbestos

Singhbhum and Ranchi

Lohardaga, Ranchi, Palamu, Jadukhera,

China clay

Ranchi and Santhal Pargana

Chromium

Jojahatu, Seraikela, Buru

Coal

Jahria, Chandpura, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Karanpura, Giridih, Daltonganj, Hurra and Hutar

Ghatshila, Rakha, Musabani, Basodih, Dhobani

Feldspar

Singhbhum district

Fire clay

Damodar Valley, Palamu, Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Santhal Pargana

Gold

Rocks in the Southern part of Chhota Nagpur plateau

Graphite

Sokra-Khan, Daltonganj

Iron-ore

Pashchimi Singhbhum, Daltonganj and Dhanbad

Kyanite

Rajkharsawa, Lapsa Buru

Limestone

Damodar Valley, Santhal Pargana, Ranchi and Singhbhum

Manganese

Gua, Noamundi, Jamda, Chaibasa

Mica

Koderma, Jhumri Tilaiya, Dhor-Kola, Domchanch Dhab

Silver

Hazaribagh, Palamu, Santhal Pargana, Ranchi and Singhbhum

Uranium

Jaduguda

Institutions Related to Mining and Mineral Research in Jharkhand

Institution

Location

Bharat Coking Coal Limited

Central Fuel Research Institute

Central Mining Planning Design and Research Institute

Central Mining Research Institute

Directorate General of Mines Safety

Indian Bureau of Mines

Indian Institute of Coal Management

Indian School of Mines

Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants Limited

National Metallurgical Laboratory

R & D Centre of SAIL

Regional Office of Coal India

Regional Office of Geological Survey of India

Jharkhand State Mineral Policy, 2017 (Jharkhand GK in English)

Jharkhand State Mineral Policy came into force in 2017 to regulate estimate of mineral resources, grant of concessions, land use planning for sustainable development, establishment of mineral based industries, ore linkage, development of infrastructure, joint venture, environment and forest related issues, etc.