The Government is to commission a
research vessel to undertake off-shore mineral exploration in the
Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean by 1981.
G.V. Joshi
October 31, 1978,
The
Government is to commission a research vessel to undertake off-shore
mineral exploration in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the Indian
Ocean by 1981. Negotiations have been started with a West German ship
building firm for developing and fabricating this research vessel.
The vessel will be used by Geological Survey of India (GSI), but the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will also use this vessel for their research work.
Geologists from GSI and NIO have been carrying out studies and samplings of sea bottoms in the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean by hiring small mechanized boats. They also participate in Indian Navy cruises. Studies carried out so far have shown very encouraging results.
The
sea floor is scattered with a variety of minerals waiting to be
explored. Geologists have located nearly 288 million tonne of very high
grade calcareous sand up lo a depth of one metre below the lagoon floors
of some Lakshadweep islands. Calcareous sand is an excellent raw
material for the manufacture of high grade cement.
The continental shelf covers an area of about one million square kilometre. This is nearly one third of the total land area of India. The Government has full rights over the mineral wealth on the continental shelf. Besides oil and gas explored and exploited by the Oil and Natural Gas Commission and Oil India Ltd, the minerals found on the continental shelf and the deep sea can be classified into three groups.
Terrigenous Minerals: Recent work done by GSI and NIO has resulted in the discovery of huge deposits of ilmenite, monazite and calcareous sands along the cost of Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
While ilmenite is used in the manufacture of Titanium - an important metal used in the manufacture of supersonic aircraft - and Titanium Dioxide (Ti02) - a starting material for the manufacture of paints - monazite sands are used to recover thorium, an important radioactive metal.
Other deposits of lesser value are gravel and sand used in the building industry. Due to shortage of dredgers and the problems of obtainings suitable ships, even these cheap raw materials could not be exploited until recently. While there is an acute shortage of these two items in cities like Bombay and Calcutta, they are lying in abundance and only waiting to be exploited a few kilometres off-shore. The same material can be used for preventing erosion.
Biogenous Deposits: Biogenous deposits along the ocean floor consist of shell pieces and skeletal debris of marine organism. The deposits in Kerala's Vembanad Lake and in the Gulf of Kutch are well known, and they are being mined at present.
Similar deposits have been discovered in the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Straits, and along the coasts of some of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Exploitable reserves of about 1,400 million tonne of coral sand have been found in the lagoons of the Lakshadweep islands. These deposits of almost pure calcium carbonate are used in a variety of industries.
Chemogenous Deposits: The most important chemogenous deposit is manganese nodules. Manganese nodules in the shape of potatoes contain manganese (19 per cent), and iron (12 per cent). They also contain nickel, cobalt and copper in recoverable quantities.
They are known to occupy very large areas of the sea floor in the deeper parts of the Indian Ocean (10 million square kilometre). The estimated reserves of manganese ore on land are about 68 million tonne, and India is annually mining nearly two million tonne.
At this rapid rate, it is likely that India will run out of manganese ore very soon. Thus the exploitation of sea floor manganese nodules is of great importance not only for the manganese, but also for nickel, copper and cobalt, which are also in short supply.
At present there is mining of monazite and ilmenite sands in addition to shells and calcareous sand from the sea floor. About one million tonne of calcareous sand was dredged from the seas off Jamnagar and 93,000 tonne of shells were dredged from the Vembanad Lake. The entire production was used for the manufacture of cement.
A titanium dioxide plant is being built at Chavera, about 15 kilometre from Quilon in Kerala. The plant will produce 22,000 tonne of Ti02 pigments annually. It will use ilmenite from the Chavera coast of Kerala. The Chavera plant should have no problems in getting raw material for the next 60-70 years from these deposits.
Non-Stop: The new vessel will pave the way for the study of marine geology and exploitation of sea floor.
Then the exploration will go on day and night, year after year, in fair weather or foul to know more about the wealth of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, which have been washing the shores of India for millions of years.
The vessel will be used by Geological Survey of India (GSI), but the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will also use this vessel for their research work.
Geologists from GSI and NIO have been carrying out studies and samplings of sea bottoms in the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean by hiring small mechanized boats. They also participate in Indian Navy cruises. Studies carried out so far have shown very encouraging results.
The continental shelf covers an area of about one million square kilometre. This is nearly one third of the total land area of India. The Government has full rights over the mineral wealth on the continental shelf. Besides oil and gas explored and exploited by the Oil and Natural Gas Commission and Oil India Ltd, the minerals found on the continental shelf and the deep sea can be classified into three groups.
Terrigenous Minerals: Recent work done by GSI and NIO has resulted in the discovery of huge deposits of ilmenite, monazite and calcareous sands along the cost of Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
While ilmenite is used in the manufacture of Titanium - an important metal used in the manufacture of supersonic aircraft - and Titanium Dioxide (Ti02) - a starting material for the manufacture of paints - monazite sands are used to recover thorium, an important radioactive metal.
Other deposits of lesser value are gravel and sand used in the building industry. Due to shortage of dredgers and the problems of obtainings suitable ships, even these cheap raw materials could not be exploited until recently. While there is an acute shortage of these two items in cities like Bombay and Calcutta, they are lying in abundance and only waiting to be exploited a few kilometres off-shore. The same material can be used for preventing erosion.
Biogenous Deposits: Biogenous deposits along the ocean floor consist of shell pieces and skeletal debris of marine organism. The deposits in Kerala's Vembanad Lake and in the Gulf of Kutch are well known, and they are being mined at present.
Similar deposits have been discovered in the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Straits, and along the coasts of some of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Exploitable reserves of about 1,400 million tonne of coral sand have been found in the lagoons of the Lakshadweep islands. These deposits of almost pure calcium carbonate are used in a variety of industries.
Chemogenous Deposits: The most important chemogenous deposit is manganese nodules. Manganese nodules in the shape of potatoes contain manganese (19 per cent), and iron (12 per cent). They also contain nickel, cobalt and copper in recoverable quantities.
They are known to occupy very large areas of the sea floor in the deeper parts of the Indian Ocean (10 million square kilometre). The estimated reserves of manganese ore on land are about 68 million tonne, and India is annually mining nearly two million tonne.
At this rapid rate, it is likely that India will run out of manganese ore very soon. Thus the exploitation of sea floor manganese nodules is of great importance not only for the manganese, but also for nickel, copper and cobalt, which are also in short supply.
At present there is mining of monazite and ilmenite sands in addition to shells and calcareous sand from the sea floor. About one million tonne of calcareous sand was dredged from the seas off Jamnagar and 93,000 tonne of shells were dredged from the Vembanad Lake. The entire production was used for the manufacture of cement.
A titanium dioxide plant is being built at Chavera, about 15 kilometre from Quilon in Kerala. The plant will produce 22,000 tonne of Ti02 pigments annually. It will use ilmenite from the Chavera coast of Kerala. The Chavera plant should have no problems in getting raw material for the next 60-70 years from these deposits.
Non-Stop: The new vessel will pave the way for the study of marine geology and exploitation of sea floor.
Then the exploration will go on day and night, year after year, in fair weather or foul to know more about the wealth of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, which have been washing the shores of India for millions of years.
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