COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC ,NICKEL MINING IN INDIA AND WORLD

Copper

 Copper is a good conductor of electricity
and is ductile [able to be drawn out into a thin
wire].
 It is an important metal used by
automobile and defense industries.
 Alloyed with iron and nickel to make
stainless steel.
 Alloyed with nickel to make ‘morel
metal’.
 Alloyed with aluminium to make
‘duralumin’.
 When alloyed with zinc it is known as
‘brass’ and with tin as ‘bronze’.
Iron + Nickel + Copper + Chromite
+.....== Stainless Steel.
Copper + Nickel == Morel Metal.
Copper + Aluminium == Duralumin.
Copper + Zinc == Brass.

Copper + Tin == Bronze.

Copper ore is found in ancient as well as
in younger rock formations and occurs as
veins and as bedded deposits
 Mining for copper is costly and tedious
affair because most of the copper ores
contain a small percentage of the metal.
 India has low grade copper ore [less than
1% metal content][international average
2.5%]
 The major part of supply comes from the
USA, Canada, Zimbabwe, Japan and
Mexico.

Copper Reserves in India
 1558.46 million tonnes.
 Rajasthan (50%)
 Madhya Pradesh (24%)
 Jharkhand (19%)
 The rest 7 per cent in AP, Gujarat,

Haryana, Karnataka etc.

Madhya Pradesh
 1st in production [59.85 %].
 Malanjkhand copper mines of Balaghat
district are the most important ones.
 Reserves of moderate size are also found

in Betul district.

Rajasthan
 2nd in production [28%]
 Found along the Aravali range.
 Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Chittaurgarh,
Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Pali,
Sikar, Sirohi and Udaipur districts.
 Khetri-Singhana belt in Jhunjhunu
district is the most important copper

producing area.

Jharkhand
 3rd in production [11 %].
 Singhbhum is the most important copper
producing district.
 Found in Hazaribagh district, Santhal

Parganas and Palamu districts.

Nickel

 Nickel does not occur free in nature.
 It is found in association with copper,
uranium and other metals.
 Important alloying material.
Iron + Nickel == stainless steel.
 It is hard and has great tensile strength.
 Hence nickel steel is used for
manufacturing armoured plates, bullet
jackets etc.
 Nickel + Copper or Silver == Coins.
 Nickel-aluminium alloys are used for
manufacturing aeroplanes and internal
combustion engines.
Metallic nickel is used for making storage
batteries and as a catalyst for
hydrogenation or hardening of fats and
oils intended for use in soap and
foodstuffs and in making vanaspati.
 Important occurrences of nickeliferous
limonite are found in the Sukinda valley
of Jajapur district, Odisha. Here it
occurs as oxide.
 Nickel also occurs in sulphide form along
with copper mineralization in east
Sighbhum district, Jharkhand.
 In addition, it is found associated with
uranium deposits at Jaduguda,
Jharkhand.
Other important occurrences of nickel are
in Karnataka, Kerala and Rajasthan.
 Polymetallic sea nodules are another
source of nickel.
 About 92 per cent resources are in
Odisha.
 The remaining 8 per cent resources are
distributed in Jharkhand, Nagaland and
Karnataka

LEAD AND ZINC DEPOSITS IN INDIA

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.
the Guntur and Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, Goalpara district of Assam, Bhandara district of Maharashtra, Chindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, Alwar district of Rajasthan and Mahendragarh district of Haryana. MECL carried out exploration in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. HZL also carried out exploration in Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Ajmer and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan in their leasehold areas.
HZL is the only integrated lead and zinc producer in the country. Its operation can be classified into mining and smelting. At present, HZL's eight mines and all mining operations are located in Rajasthan. Eight mines are RampuraAgucha mine (Bhilwara district), Kayad mine (Ajmer district), Rajpura-Dariba mine, SindesarKhurd mine (both in Rajsamand district) and Zawar group of mines (4 mines in Udaipur district), Rajasthan.

smelting of Pb-Zn

1) Chanderia Lead-zinc smelting complex is located 110 km North of Udaipur in Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan. It was commissioned in 1991 with an initial production capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annum

2) Dariba smelting complex is located 75 km north-east of Udaipur near to Rajpura-Dariba Mine and 7 km from Sindesar Khurd mine in Rajsamand district, Rajasthan. The zinc smelter at Dariba was commissioned in march 2010 and has a capacity of 210,000 tonnes per annum while lead smelter was commissioned in July, 2011 with a capacity of 1,00,000 tonnes lead per annum.

3) HZL also have one more zinc smelter situated at Visakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It was commissioned in the year 1978. The production capacity of the smelter is 56,000 tonnes per annum of zinc. The plant operation has been under suspension since February 2012 due to management decision of HZL.

The largest consumer of zinc is the Galvanising Industry. The zinc once used for galvanising as well as for brass making is not recoverable. Hence, the quantum of zinc recycling is comparatively small as compared to lead recycling. The secondary zinc was recovered from pure zinc scrap in the form of sheet cutting, zinc roofings, old zinc anodes and alloys containing zinc as a major constituent. Lead when used as metal in batteries, cable sheathing and sheathing for containing radiation is fully recyclable and it does not lose its properties. There is indeed a thriving industry that recycles lead in the country. However, due to the health risk involved in lead recycling the Central Pollution Control Board issues licences to the lead-reprocessors to ensure adherence of stringent environmental norms.

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