refractory minerals in india

                                  REFRACTORY MINERALS IN INDIA :

DEFINE 

USES

TYPES 

RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION

MAPPING 

   MATERIAL THAT IS RESISTANT TO HEAT, PRESSURE & CHEMICAL REACTIONS. SUCH MATERIAL IS USED IN BLAST FURNANCE, KILN INDUSTRIES, SMELTING, GLASS MANUFACTURING, FLAME DEFLECTORS FOR ROCKET LAUNCHES, INSULATORS IN ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES,ETC .TODAY MORE THAN 70% OF REFRACTORY MINERALS IS USED IN METAL INDUSTRY ESPECIALLY IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY.


REFRACTORY MINERALS MAINLY COMPOSED OF OXIDES OF SILICON. MAGNESIUM, ALUMINIUM, CALCIUM AND ZIRCONIUM . THEY ARE MAINLY INORGANIC,POROUS AND NONMETALLIC MINERALS WHICH REMAIN UNAFFECTED UNDER HIGH TEMPERATURE. IN METALLURGY USED FOR KILN AND LINING FURNANCE, & VESSELS HOLDING AND TRANSPORTING HOT MEDIA LIKE SLAG AND METAL.

 MINERALS WITHSTAND MORE THAN 1500 DEGREE CELCIUS TEMPERATURE AND CAN BE MOULDED INTO BRICKS OR OTHER FORMS, RESIST CRACKING UNDER TEMPERATURE CHANGES AND NON-REACTIVE WITH REFRACTORY MATERIALS. THESE MINERALS SHOULD HAVE HIGH MELTING POINT AND RESIST THE HEAT.

  REFRACTORY MINERALS INCLUDES MORE THAN10 SUCH MATERIAL WHICH IS CRUCIBLES AND USED AS LINING FOR FURNANCE, KILN(OVEN), REACTOR(NUCLEAR) AND INCINERTORS(WASTE TO ENERGY) ARE :

1) FIRECLAY
2) BAUXITE
3) GRAPHITE
4) CHROMITE
5) DOLOMITE
6) MAGNESITE
7) SILLIMINITE
8) MICA
9) KYOLIN(CHINA CLAY)
10) PHYROHYLLITE
11) QURTZ
12) ZIRCON

IN INDIA REFRACTORY MINERALS GREATLY INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF BASIC INDUSTRIES SUCH AS STEEL, GLASS,CEMENT,ETC AND ALSO WE ARE LEADER IN EXPORT OF RAWMATERIAL TO THE WORLD AND MORE THAN 3000 CRORE FROM THIS SECTOR. IT INDICATES THE PACE AND GROWTH OF INDUSTRIES AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION .THIS INDUSTRY IS GROWING AT THE RATE OF 10% PER YEAR.

CHINA IS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC REFRACTORY MINERALS BUT SINCE 2016 THEY CHANGED THEIR POLICY SITING ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS LEADING TO FALLOUT AND REDUCED PRODUCTION ADVERSELY AFFECTING INDIA'S STEEL PRODUCTION . INDIA DEPENDS ON 30% IMPORT OF REFRACTORY MINERALS FROM CHINA AS WE KNOW REFRACTORY MINERAL CONTRIBUTE 3% OF TOTAL STEEL MANUFACTURING COST.

USE OF REFRACTORY MINERALS IS INDICATIVE OF PERFORMANCE OF HEAVY INDUSTRIES , SMELTING IN ALUMINIUM,COPPER ,ETC, STEEL INDUSTRY IN INDIA DEPENDS ON REFRACTORY MINERALS.WE ARE SELF-SUFFICENT IN SOME OF THE REFRACTORY MINERALS SUCH AS DOLOMITE BUT SOME WE IMPORT MAINLY FROM CHINA

MAGNESITE : IT IS BASIC MAGNESIUM ROCK USED FOR BRICK MANUFACTURING FOR STEEL ,FIRE PROOFING FLOORING, TILES. SPECIAL CEMENT. INDIA'S STATE WISE PPRODUCTION IS :1)TAMIL NADU   2) UTTARAKHAND   3) KARNATAKA   4) RAJASTHAN

IMPORTANT MAGNESITE MINES IN INDIA ARE : 1) SALEM --CHALK HILLS --, OTHERS IN T.N. ARE COIMBATORE,NILIGRIS,PERIYAR,TIRNEVELI  2) ALMORA--UK.3) HASSAN-KARNATAKA  4) PALI-RAJASTHAN  5) CHAMBA--H.P.

BUT INDIA IMPORT MAGNESITE FROM CHINA, PAKISTAN, TURKEY AND IRAN IN DECREASING ORDER.
INDIA'S MAGNESITE IS CHARACTERISED BY LOW LIME AND HIGH SILICA IN TN; BUT REVERSE IN UTTARAKHAND.

FIRE CLAY :--
 
           India possesses substantial reserves of fireclay. The best deposits occur in association with the coal seams in the Lower Gondwana Coalfields of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Neyveli lignite fields in Tamil Nadu. Notable occurrences of fireclay, not associated with coal measures, are reported in Gujarat, Jabalpur region of Madhya Pradesh and Belpahar-Sundergarh areas of Odisha. The reserves of fireclay are substantial but reserves of high-grade (non-plastic) fireclay containing more than 37% alumina are limited.

RESERVES IN DECREASING ORDER IN INDIA : 1) ODISHA (24%); 2) MP (18%)  3) T.N. (16%);  4) JHARKHAND (9%) 5) GUJARAT & RAJASTHAN (8% each);

Fireclays are used in the manufacture of cement, bricks, blocks, retorts, crucibles, mortars, masses, pottery, floor tiles, etc. Low-grade material is used for manufacturing heavy sanitaryware, such as, pipes and bath tubs. Firebricks are used where heat generation is involved. Firebricks are used extensively in furnaces, kilns and ovens. Firebricks are required chiefly by metallurgical industries. The fireclays are graded into: i) low duty ii) intermediate duty iii) high duty and iv) super duty, depending upon their capacity to withstand high temperature before melting.

MAJOR PRODUCER STATE OF FIRECLAY ARE  :-- RAJASTHAN, >> TAMILNADU, >> JHARKHAND >> WEST BENGAL >>MP >> GUJARAT >> A.P>> KARNATAKA >> MAH & CHATTISHGARH.

BAUXITE :--
 INDIA IS 5TH LARGEST PRODUCER AND 10TH RANK IN TERMS OF RESERVES OF BAUXITE.
ODISHA IS THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF BAUXITE USED AS A PRINCIPLE ORE FOR ALUMINIUM.

 MAJOR PRODUCER STATES ARE : RANKWISE ---
 1) ODISHA--51.3%   2) GUJARAT--14%    3) CHHATTISGARH--11.4%    4) MAHARAHTRA--9.1%;
MAJOR RESERVES STATEWISE ARE :-- 1) ODISHA >> AP>>GUJARAT>>JHARKHAND

WORLD LARGEST PRODUCER ARE : AUSTRALIA
WORLD LARGEST RESERVE AND EXPORTER : GUINEA
WORLD LARGEST IMPORTER : CHINA

IMPORTANT BAUXITE MINES IN INDIA :
1) PANCHPATMALI  MINES --KORAPUT ,ODISHA
2) BAPHLIMALI MINES ---RAYAGADA ,ODISHA
3) ASOTA MEWASA & GHANGURA MINES--DWARKA,GUJARAT
4) BODAI -DALDALI MINES --KABIRDHAM, CHHATTISGARH
5) SARJUGA --CHHATTISGARH
6) GUMLA,LATEHAR & LOHARDAGA--JHARKHAND
7) KOLAPUR AND RATNAGIRI--MAHARASHTRA

DOLOMITE :-->
 
IT IS FAIRLY ABUNDANT IN INDIA CONSIST OF 40-45% OF MgCo3, Dolomite is consumed by iron & steel, ferroalloys, fertilizer, glass, alloy steel and other industries.   Major share of about 88% resources is found distributed in eight States, namely, Madhya Pradesh (27%), Andhra Pradesh (15%), Chhattisgarh (11%), Odisha (10%), Karnataka & Rajasthan (7% each), Gujarat (6%) and Ma harashtra (5%). The remaining 12% resources are distributed in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal .

major producer of dolomite are :-- chhattisgarh(36%) >> odisha >> andhra pradesh >> gujarat >> telangana >> maharashtra >> rajasthan

KYANITE :-
   

Used in glass and ceramics industries , electrical, spark plugs of vehicles
India has the largest deposits in the world
It is metamorphic aluminium rock
Statewise reserves: AP, Karnataka,Jharkhand,Kerala,Maharashtra, Rajasthan,tamilnadu
Statewise production : Jharkhand (90%+), Maharashtra, Odisha,Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
Important mines :- 1) Lapsa Buru to kharsawan in saraikela.-130km stretch largest in world in Jharkhand 2) other in Jharkhand are Ghagidih, bakra, padampur 3) bhandara and Nagpur in Maharashtra

Sillimanite 

Uses is same as kyanite also as rare earth mineral along with refractory mineral
Major reserves : Tamil Nadu, Odisha, UP, AP, Kerala, Assam
Major producers are : 1) Odisha -Ganjam district, 2) Kerala - beach sand of Kottayam,palakkad, ernakulumn, Kozhikode. 3) Maharashtra - Bhandara,  4) Rajasthan - Udaipur,  5) Karnataka- Hasan, Mysore,  6) Meghalaya - Khasi hills,  7) Assam - Karbi Anglong.  8) M.P.- sidhi.

Steatite mineral or soapstone or talk

It is hydrous magnesium silicate, it is soft and  soapy in nature.

Used in variety of applications due to its extreme softness & smoothness,lustre,lubricating, low moisture content, ability to absorb oil and grease, chemically inert, high fusion point, low electrical and heat conductivity, high specific heat,etc

Talc, soapstone and steatite has been declared as a minor mineral by GOI in 2015.
Major reserves: Rajasthan (57%), Uttarakhand (25%) and remaining 28% to others like AP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Odisha, Sikkim, TN, and Telangana.

Consumption sectors : paper & textiles, Insectcides, cosmetics, ceremics and paints,

Major producers are : Rajasthan followed by AP, Gujarat......
Mines at jaipur, Bhilwara,sawai Madhopur, Udaipur