Peculiarities in mineral deposits

2.  Introduction
 Nonrenewable Resource
 Finite Quantity
 Depth Dimension
 Uncertainty about Quantity
 Uncertainty in Quality
 Uncertainty in Usability
 Geological complexities
 Locational and Distributional peculiarities
 Relationship between Mineral Deposits and Political Boundaries
 Perpetuality of mineral Deposits
 Relationship between minerals and Economy
 High Investment Risk
 Conclusion
 References

3.  Mineral: Naturally occur, inorganic
substance definite chemical composition.
 Mineral deposits are generally compared to
land, flora & fauna of a country.
 Floral resources are best represented by
forests and faunal resources by wildlife.
 The only common factor of these four assets
is all are natural resources.

4.  Majority of the mineral deposits have formed in
the geological past involving millions of years &
once a mineral deposit is used up it will not be
replenished.
 This feature contrasts mineral deposits from flora
and faunal resources which can be replenished by
nature in a short span of time involving a couple of
years.
 However these are some exception in case of
sulfur deposits that constantly form from hot
springs & borax deposits of ladak & form
continuously from thermal springs.

6.  Unlike forest & wildlife resources which are
capable of expanding on their own without
activity of man the quantity of a mineral
deposit doesn’t increase.
 However the use of a mineral deposit & its
mining limit can be extended into
uneconomic occurrences by improvement of
technology or by increases in sale price of
the mineral.

7.  While other natural resources occur on the
surface mineral deposits are mostly in the
subsurface often extending to 1000s of feet
depth.
 In India the KOLAR gold mine has reached
around 10,000s of feet depth.
 This has significance on the cost of
exploitation of mineral resource also the
depth dimension introduces complexity in
assessing a mineral deposit.

8.  Mineral deposits not only occur in the
subsurface but also occupy a large volume of
space therefore the quantity of an entire
mineral deposits can’t be measured directly
& indirect methods like drilling, pitting etc.
are employed to estimate the quantity of
mineral deposits.
 Since actual measurements are carried out
only at sample points there is an dement of
uncertainty in estimating the quantity of any
mineral deposits.

9.  As in the case of estimating the quantity, the
quality or grade of mineral deposits is
determined by drawing the sample at various
points.
 By analyzing these samples extrapolations
are made for estimating the grade of entire
deposits.
 Further mineral deposits are not homogenous
in term of chemical or mineralogical
composition. All these factors introduce
complexities in estimating the grade of a
mineral deposit.

10.  The usability or application of a mineral also
depends on many other factors like price,
availability of mining and processing
technology, infrastructure, accessibility,
discovery of new mineral deposits etc..
 Therefore issues related to usability of
mineral deposits depends on a numbers of
interconnected factors each of which has an
element of uncertainty.

11.  Since mineral deposits form by a variety of
geological processes there are diverse type
of controls of mineralization which result in
variations in size, shape, quality, form &
depth of mineral deposits.
 Deposits of two or more minerals may be of
the same form or the same mineral may
occur in a variety of forms. This peculiarity
of mineral deposits is not noted in any other
natural resource.

12.  Mineral deposits having formed from natural
processes without intervention by human beings
are unevenly distributed in the earth’s crust.
 Therefore no country is sufficient in all mineral
although the fertility of the land can be improved
by artificial means
 Areas of agricultural resources can be changed &
forests can be shifted by means of afforestation
program. Mineral deposits have fixed location &
can’t be changed.

13.  Land surface can be divided into countries,
states, districts & cities whereas mineral
deposits being located on surface as well as
subsurface can’t be subjected to such
divisions or political boundaries.

14.  A fertile land may become a desert in course
of time & trees may decay either naturally or
due to climatic factors or wild animals die
naturally, but no such thing can happen to
mineral deposits.
 A mineral deposits if not exploited will
remain intact & only under rare
circumstances natural calamities like
volcanic eruption & Earthquake may slightly
disturb the form of mineral deposits.

15.  Minerals are base for all industrial &
agriculture based products & represent the
foundation of the economy of any country.
 Minerals deposits in the past, present &
future occupy a distinctive place in the
economic resource of any country.

16.  Many of the uncertainties associated with
mineral deposits about quantity, quality,
usability & geological complexity makes
investment in mining of mineral deposits a
highly risky venture compared to other
industries.
 Added to this risk element is the fairly long
gestation period associated with mining.

17.  Minerals are nonrenewable resource and
never changing.
 Mineral deposits are generally compared to
land, flora & fauna of a country.
 Minerals are base for all industrial &
agriculture based products & represent the
foundation of the economy of any country.
 Minerals deposits in the past, present &
future will occupy a distinctive place in the
economic resource of any country.

18. Reference:
 Kaulir Kisor Chatterjee, An Introduction to Mineral
Economics by PP (8-15) Publisher, H.S.Poplai for Wiley
Eastern Limited, New Delhi.
 K.Sinha and N.L.Sharma, Mineral Economics (Fourth
Edition) by PP (8-13), Published by Mohan Primlani For
oxford & IBH publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd , New Delhi
Website
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mineral deposits
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peculiarities in mineral
deposits