Jaduguda in Jharkhand is famous for the mining of:

Jaduguda, in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, is the site of India's first uranium mine. It is operated by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), a public sector company under the Department of Atomic Energy, which has its headquarters at Jaduguda.

History:

• Uranium deposits at Jaduguda were discovered in 1951.
• UCIL was set up in 1967, and the Jaduguda underground mine began commercial production in 1968.
• A uranium ore processing plant (mill) was set up at Jaduguda to produce yellowcake (uranium concentrate), which is used to make fuel for nuclear reactors.

Other uranium mines of the Singhbhum belt (Jharkhand):

• Bhatin, Narwapahar, Turamdih, Bagjata, Banduhurang (an open-cast mine) and Mohuldih.
• The Singhbhum Shear Zone is the most important uranium-bearing region of India.

Other uranium areas of India:

Tummalapalle in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, where a large deposit has been found and mined since 2012. It is considered one of the largest uranium deposits in India, though of low grade.

Importance of uranium:

Uranium is the fuel for nuclear reactors. In nuclear fission, uranium-235 atoms split, releasing a huge amount of energy as heat, which is used to produce steam and electricity.

India's domestic uranium is of low grade and limited quantity, so India also imports uranium from countries such as Kazakhstan, Canada, Russia and Uzbekistan. Imports became possible after the India-US civil nuclear agreement (2008) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver.

Thorium:

India has large thorium reserves in monazite sands of coastal Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. It is planned for use in the third stage of India's nuclear programme.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Thorium comes from coastal monazite sands, not Jaduguda.
• ✗Gold in Jharkhand is found in small amounts in places such as the Subarnarekha sands.
• ✗Manganese is not the main mineral of Jaduguda.