Minerals Resources (Part-V)

Granite, for instance was once a super heated liquid. When this liquid is beneath the surface of the earth, it's called magma. Once it reaches the surface, perhaps as an eruption, it is called lava. Granite is hard, soapstone is soft.

Panna is a beautiful town located in Madhya Pradesh. It is the biggest centre of diamond mining in India. Here, mines of diamond are located in Panna & Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.

Large reserves of diamond-bearing kimberlite tracts have been discovered in Payalikhand and Behradin in Raipur district and Tokapal in Bastar.

Uranium and Thorium are the main atomic minerals. Other atomic minerals are beryllium, lithium and zirconium. Uranium deposits occur in Singhbhum and Hazaribagh districts of Jharkhand, Gaya district of Bihar, and in the sedimentary rocks in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

But the largest source of uranium comprise the monazite sands. Monazite sands occur on east and west coasts and in some places in Bihar. But the largest concentration of monazite sand is on the Kerala coast.

Over 15,200 tonnes of uranium is estimated to be contained in monazite. Some uranium is found in the copper mines of Udaipur in Rajasthan. India produces about 2 per cent of world's uranium. The total reserves of uranium are estimated at 30,480 tonnes.

The heavy mineral sand deposits in Kerala contain an assemblage of Ilmenite, Rutile, Leucoxene, monazite, Zircon and Sillimanite. The state possesses one of the world class deposits of mineral sand in the coastal tracts between Neendakara and Kayamkulam. Hence (b) is the correct answer.

Monazite minerals are found in Kerala's coast, Thorium and Uranium is also found in Monozite minerals.