UNDER SEA MINING SURVEYS YIELD IMPORTANT MINERALS

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LOK SABHA

Scientific expeditions to study the potential of under sea mining along India’s coasts have found placer minerals like limenite, sillimanite, garnet, monazite, zircon and rutile off the coasts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra. These minerals could be exploited in the near future for industries related to paint, alloy, refractories and also as strategic atomic minerals.

Lime mud occurrences having high calcium oxide content have also been found off Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat coasts, and huge sand occurrences within the territorial waters in east coast and west coast.

Government is carrying out systematic seabed survey in Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India. The surveys are being carried out onboard the Research Vessel, Samudra Manthan and two coastal research launches, Samudra Kaustubh and Samudra Shaudhhikama since 1983, for seabed mapping and locating non-living resources, by the Geological Survey of India.

This information was given by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister for Human Resource Development and Ocean Development in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.