By Divya Raul

A mineral is a naturally occurring substance that is solid and stable at room temperature,
representable by a chemical formula, usually abiogenic, and has an ordered atomic structure. It is
different from a rock, which can be an aggregate of minerals or non-minerals, and does not have
a specific chemical composition. The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
The general definition of a mineral encompasses the following criteria:
• It must occur naturally.
• It must be inorganic
• It must be a solid
• It must possess an orderly internal structure, that is, its atoms must be arranged in a definite
pattern.
• It must have a definite chemical composition that may vary within specified limits.
The most common minerals are the silicates, as one would guess by looking at the abundances of
the elements in the Earth's crust, but there is a great variety of minerals. Minerals are classified in
many ways, including hardness, optical properties, crystal structure, etc. Shipman, et al. comment
that over 2000 minerals have been found in the Earth's crust, but that about 20 of them are
common and fewer than 10 account for over 90% of the crust by mass.
Non-silicates constitute less than 10% of the Earth's crust. The most common non-silicates are
the carbonates, the oxides, and the sulfides. There are also naturally occuring phosphates and
salts. There are a few elements which occur in pure form, including gold, silver, copper,
bismuth,arsenic, lead and tellurium. Carbon is found in both graphite and diamond form. Some
minerals are valued as gems because of their hardness, color and beauty.
There are over three thousand different minerals. On the basis of
composition, minerals are classified mainly as metallic and non-
metallic minerals.
Classification of Minerals:

Minerals

Metallic Non-metallic

Ferrous Non-ferrous
Metallic
 Metallic mineral re those
minerals which can be melted
to obtain new products.
 Iron, cooper, bauxite, tin,
manganese are some
examples.
 These are generally associated
with igneous rocks.
 They are usually hard and have
shines or luster of their own.
 They are ductile and malleable.
 When hit, they do not get
broken.
Nonmetallic
 Non-metallic minerals are
those which do not yield new
products on melting.
 Coal, salt, clay, marble are
some examples.
 These are generally associated
with sedimentary rocks.
 They are not so hard and have
no shine or luster of their own.
 They are not ductile and
malleable.
 When hit, they may got broken
into pieces.
Minerals can be extracted by mining, drilling or quarrying The process
of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface is
called mining. Minerals that lie at shallow depths are taken out by
removing the surface layer; this is known as open-cast mining. Deep
bores, called shafts, have to be made to reach mineral deposits that lie
at great depths. This is called shaft mining. Petroleum and natural gas
occur far below the earth’s surface. Deep wells are bored to take them
out, this is called drilling. Minerals that lie near the surface are simply
dug out, by the process known as quarrying.
Extraction of Minerals

Mining Drilling Quarrying

Open cast mining Shaft mining

Distribution of Iron, Copper Distribution of Mineral Oil
and Bauxite and Coal
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a
dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal with a bright yellow color and luster
that is considered attractive, which is maintained without tarnishing in air or
water. Chemically, gold is atransition metal and a group 11 element. It is one
of the least reactive chemical elements, solid under standard conditions. The
metal therefore occurs often in free elemental (native) form, as nuggets or
grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Less commonly, it occurs in
minerals as gold compounds, usually with tellurium.

 Kolar in Karnataka has deposits of

gold in India. These mines are among
the deepest in the world which makes
mining of this ore a very
expensive process.
Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number
47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it possesses the highest electrical
conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of
any metal.
Silver has long been valued as a precious metal, used in currency coins, to
make ornaments, jewelry, high-value tableware and utensils and as an
investment in the forms of coins and bullion. Silver metal is used industrially
in electrical contacts and conductors, in mirrors and in catalysis of chemical
reactions. Its compounds are used in
photographic filmand dilute silver
nitrate solutions and other silver
compounds are used as disinfectants
and microbiocides. While many
medical antimicrobial uses of silver
have been supplanted by antibiotics,
further research into clinical
potential continues.
Aluminium (or aluminum) is a chemical element in the boron group with
symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery white, soft, ductile metal.
Aluminium is the third most abundant element (after oxygen and silicon), and
the most abundant metal, in the Earth's crust. It makes up about 8% by
weight of the Earth's solid surface. Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive
that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing
environments. Instead, it is found combined in over 270 different minerals.[5]
The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite.
Aluminium is remarkable for the metal's low
density and for its ability to resist corrosion due
to the phenomenon of passivation. Structural
components made from aluminium and its alloys
are vital to the aerospace industry and are
important in other areas of transportation and
structural materials. The most useful compounds
of aluminium, at least on a weight basis,
are the oxides and sulfates.
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually
occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The
harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock
because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure.
Throughout history, coal has been a useful resource. It is primarily burned for
the production of electricity and/or heat, and is also used for industrial
purposes, such as refining metals. A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant
matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then
sub-bituminous coal, after that bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite.
This involves biological and geological processes
that take place over a long period.
Coal is the largest source of energy for the
generation of electricity worldwide. Coal is
extracted from the ground by coal mining,
either underground by shaft mining, or at
ground level by open pit mining extraction
Native copper is an uncombined form of copper which occurs as a natural
mineral. Copper is one of the few metallic elements to occur in native form,
although it most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other
elements. Native copper was an important ore of copper in historic times and
was used by pre-historic peoples.
Native copper occurs as rarely isometric cubic and octahedral crystals, but
more typically as irregular masses and fracture fillings. It has a reddish,
orangish, and/or brownish color on fresh surfaces. Its specific gravity is 8.9
and its hardness is 2.5–3.
Another major native copper deposit is in
Coro Coro, Bolivia.
The name copper comes from the Greek kyprios,
of Cyprus, the location of copper mines
since pre-historic times.
Power resource theory is a political theory which proposes
the idea that the distribution of power between major
classes is to some extent accountable for the successes and
failure of various political ideologies.

Power or energy plays a vital role in our lives. We also need

power for industry, agriculture, transport, communication
and defense. Power resources may be broadly categorised
as conventional and non-conventional resources.
 Oil Natural Gas

Advantages Disadvantages Advantages

• Easier to Transport (tankers) • Depletion of oxygen due to oil spillage • Easier to Transport
• Basis of petro-chemical industry and gas leakage (Pipelines)
• Pollutants released caused acid rain • Cheaper than oil and coal
• Exploration of new fuel is not easy • Cheaper than oil

Conventional Sources of Energy

Fire Wood Coal

Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages
• Easy access • Collection of time consuming • Extensively • Polluting source
• Provides energy to • Polluting available • Bulky to
a large number of • Promoting green house effect • Efficient conversion transport
people • Deforestation to electricity

Hydel Power
Advantages Disadvantages
• Non-polluting • Displacement of local community
• Promotes irrigation and fishing • Inundates low
• Cheap • Expensive to setup
Hydel Power is power derived from the energy of falling water and running
water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times,
hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various
mechanical devices, such as watermills, sawmills, textile mills, dock cranes,
domestic lifts, power houses and paint making.
Hydro power is arenewable energy source. Water's power is manifested in
hydrology, by the forces of water on the riverbed and banks of a river. When a
river is in flood, it is at its most powerful, and moves the greatest amount of
sediment. This higher force
results in the removal of
sediment and other material
from the riverbed and banks
of the river, locally causing
erosion, transport and,
with lower flow,
sedimentation downstream.
 Wind Energy
Advantages Disadvantages
• Non-polluting • Noise pollution
• Low cost production of electricity • Wind mills costly to set up
once set up • Disturbs radio and T.V. Reception
• Safe and clean • Harmful to birds

Solar energy Tidal Energy

Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages
• Inexhaustible • Expensive • Non-polluting • Destroys wildlife habitat
• Non- polluting • Diffused source so gets • Inexhaustible • Difficult to harness
wasted

Non-Conventional Sources of Energy

Nuclear Energy Bio Gas

Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages
• Emits large amount of • Generates radioactive • Low Cost • Causes green house effect
energy waste • Easy to operate
• Expensive • Makes use of bio waste

Geothermal Energy
Advantages Disadvantages
• Clean eco-friendly and • Located far away from
always available cities and so costly to
transport the electricity
Sun’s heat and light energy can be felt by us every day. Solar energy trapped from the
sun can be used in solar cells to produce electricity. Many of these cells are joined into
solar panels to generate power for heating and lighting purpose. The technology of
utilising solar energy benefits a lot of tropical countries that are blessed with
abundant sunshine. Solar energy is also used in solar heaters, solar cookers, solar
dryers besides being used for community lighting and traffic signals.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar
depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar
techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to
harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun,
selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and
designing spaces that naturally circulate air.
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as
using wind turbines to make electrical power,windmills for mechanical power, wind
pumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships.
Wind is an inexhaustible source of energy. Wind mills have been used for grinding
grain and lifting water since times immemorial. In modern time wind mills, the high
speed winds rotate the wind mill which is connected to a generator to produce
electricity. Wind farms having clusters of such wind mills are located in coastal regions
and in mountain passes where strong and steady winds blow. Windfarms are found in
Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, UK, USA and Spain are noted for their wind energy
production.
Nuclear power is obtained from energy stored in the nuclei of atoms of
naturally occurring radio active elements like uranium and thorium. These
fuels undergo nuclear fission in nuclear reactors and emit power. The greatest
producers of nuclear power are USA and Europe. In India Rajasthan and
Jharkhand have large deposits of Uranium. Thorium is found in large
quantities in the Monozite sands of Kerala. The nuclear power stations in
India are located in Kalpakkam in Tamilnadu, Tarapur in Maharastra,
Ranapratap Sagar near Kota in Rajasthan, Narora in Uttar Pradesh and Kaiga
in Karnataka.
Heat energy obtained from the earth is called geothermal energy. The
temperature in the interior of the earth rises steadily as we go deeper. Some
times this heat energy may surface itself in the form of hot springs. This heat
energy can be used to generate power. Geothermal energy in the form of hot
springs has been used for cooking, heating and bathing for several years.
USA has the world’s largest geothermal power plants followed by New
Zealand, Iceland, Philippines and Central America. In India, geothermal plants
are located in Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh and Puga Valley in Ladakh.
Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that
converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power - mainly
electricity.
Tidal energy can be harnessed by building dams at narrow openings of
the sea. During high tide the energy of the tides is used to turn the
turbine installed in the dam to produce electricity. Russia, France and
the Gulf of Kachchh in India have huge tidal mill farms.