SSC
The largest concentration of monazite sands in India is found along the:
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Answer: Option A — Kerala coast
Detailed Solution
The beach sands of the Kerala coast, especially around Chavara and Neendakara in the Kollam district, contain one of the richest concentrations of monazite in the world. Monazite is also found along the southern Tamil Nadu coast (such as Manavalakurichi) and parts of the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts.
What is monazite?
Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral.
It contains rare earth elements (such as cerium, lanthanum and neodymium) and the radioactive element thorium.
It is heavy and resistant to weathering, so it collects in beach and river sands along with other heavy minerals, such as zircon, garnet and sillimanite. These are often called "black sands" because of their dark colour.
How the deposits formed:
- The minerals were weathered out of old crystalline rocks of the Western Ghats and carried by rivers to the coast.
- Waves and currents sorted the sand, concentrating the heavy minerals on the beaches.
Importance of monazite:
Thorium: India has one of the largest thorium reserves in the world, mainly in monazite. India's three-stage nuclear power programme, planned by Homi J. Bhabha, aims to use thorium in its third stage.
Rare earths: rare earth elements are used in magnets, electronics, batteries, wind turbines, lasers and defence equipment.
Mining and control:
Because it contains radioactive thorium, monazite is listed as an "atomic mineral" in India. Its mining and processing are controlled by the Department of Atomic Energy.
Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), a public sector company under the Department of Atomic Energy, processes beach sand minerals. It has units at Chavara (Kerala), Manavalakurichi (Tamil Nadu), Chatrapur (Odisha) and a rare earths plant at Aluva (Kerala).
Concerns:
Beach sand mining has caused coastal erosion in some areas.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The Gujarat coast is known for salt, marine chemicals and ports, not for major monazite deposits.
- ✗The Konkan coast is not a major source of monazite.
- ✗The Andaman coast has coral reefs and forests but no large monazite deposits.
Quick tip
Remember: Monazite (thorium + rare earths) = beach sands of Kerala (Chavara), also Tamil Nadu; processed by IREL; key for India's thorium nuclear plan.
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Minerals & Energy Resources — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Minerals & Energy Resources, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's mineral resources (iron ore, manganese, bauxite, copper, mica and others) and energy resources (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power and renewable energy), with their main producing regions, mines, oil fields and power plants. Questions often ask where a mineral is found, which state is the leading producer, or where an important power plant or oil field is located. For example, Jharia is known for coal, Digboi in Assam is the oldest oil field in India, and Tarapur in Maharashtra is the site of India's first nuclear power plant. Practise the minerals and energy resources questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.