The geographic distribution of world metal mine production and consumption. In addition to supply of and demand for a mineral commodity, money supply is also an important factor in determining price. The geographic distribution of metal mining is influenced by where the economic deposits are located.

Geological scarcity of mineral resources must be distinguished from economic scarcity. Economic scarcity of mineral resources is the umbrella concept and can be caused not only by geological scarcity, but also by many other factors. Ultimately, the market price is determined by the balance between demand and supply.

Economically valuable minerals (metallic and nonmetallic) that provide the raw materials for industry tend to be rare and hard to find. Therefore, considerable effort and skill is necessary for finding where they occur and extracting them in sufficient quantities.

Even there, the federal government owns 1/3rd of the land. For India though, it is a simple question with a complex answer. Under Article 297 of our Constitution, offshore minerals are owned by the Union (Central) Government. However, onshore minerals have a more complex ownership.

India’s major mineral resources include Coal (4th largest reserves in the world), Iron ore, Manganese ore (7th largest reserve in the world as in 2013), Mica, Bauxite (5th largest reserve in the world as in 2013), Chromite, Natural gas, Diamonds, Limestone and Thorium.

India’s 97% magnetite resources are located in its four states, namely, Karnataka-7812 million tonnes (73%) followed by Andhra Pradesh-1,464 million tonnes (14%), Rajasthan-527 million tonnes and Tamil Nadu-507 million tonnes (5% each).

Top Mineral Producer in India (State-wise) and Other Countries

Maharashtra

Top 10 Highest Literate States of India : Ranking

Mumbai