58 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
existing, estimates have not far been made because of irregular nature of pegmatites as well
as erratic nature of mica mineralisation in pegmatites.
(20) Nickel
Low grade latorited nickel occurs in Cuttack, Keonjhar and Mayurbhani Districts of
Orissa. Main occurrence is in Sukinda Belt to Cuttack District. Minor occurrences are also
reported from Bihar, Manipur, Nagaland, Maharasthra, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Total
nickel ore resources are estimated at 23.1 crore tonnes.
(21) Phosphate Minerals
Deposists of Phosphorites are located in Chhatarpur, Sagar and Jhabua Districts of
Madhya Pradesh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Banswara districts of Rajasthan and Dehradun
and Tehri and Lalitpur District of Uttar Pradesh. Besides, apatite deposits of commerical
importance are reported to occur in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and
Tamil Nadu. Total recoverable reserves of Rock Phosphate are estimated at 11.5 crore
tonnes and of apatite at 20 lakh tonnes.
(22) Tungsten
Recoverable reserves of tungsten ore are placed at 70 lakh tonnes with W 03 contents
of 7,860 tonnes. Tungsten ore occurs in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal
and Uttar Pradesh. The only producing mine in the country is at Degana in Rajasthan.
(23) Magnesite
India is having large resources of magnesite, which is an important refractory mineral.
Total recoverable reserves of magnesite are estimated at 22.2 crore tonnes. Presently, chief
sources of magnesite are in the District of Salem in Tamil Nadu and Almora in Uttar
Pradesh. Deposits of magnesite also occur in Chamili and Pithoragarh District of Uttar
Pradesh, Mysore and Hassan District of Karnataka and in Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala.
(24) Kyanite and Sillimanite
Kyanitye and sillimanite are other important refractory minerals. Principal sources of
supply of kyanite are Singhbhum deposit of Bihar and Bhandara deposit of Maharashtra.
A small quantity is also produced form Karnataka and Rajasthan. Total recoverable reverses
of Sillimanite are placed at 54.3 lakh tonnes.
(25) Other Minerals
Other minerals occuring in significant quantities in India are as under:
(i) Bentonite (Gujrat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu),
(ii) Corundum (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh),
(iii) Calcite (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujrat),
(iv) Fuller’s Earth (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh),
(v) Felspar (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh),
(vi) Garnet (Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh),
(vii) Steatite (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar),