Rajasthan enters uranium mining
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Geography
- Published
29th Jun, 2022
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Context
The Rajasthan government has forayed into the field of uranium mining by issuing a letter of intent (LoI) to Uranium Corporation of India.
- The LoI is for excavation of ore of this rare mineral in the state. Mining of the rare mineral will start after fulfilling necessary formalities.
- India’s department of atomic energy first found uranium deposits in the Khandela area of Sikar.
- Around 12 million tonnes of uranium and other elements are expected to be lying deep down under this area.
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Uranium mines in India
- Currently, the states of Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh have India’s largest uranium mines.
- After Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan is the third state where uranium — which is considered one of the rare minerals in the world — has been found.
- India also imports its rare mineral needs from the world’s largest uranium-producing nations like Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Canada.
- Currently, excavation of uranium is going on at Jadugoda in Jharkhand as well as Andhra Pradesh.
Largest mines in the world
- The largest producers of uranium in the world are Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia, while this mineral has also been found in Niger, Russia, Namibia, Uzbekistan, the US and Ukraine.
Uranium
- Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the periodic table, with atomic number 92.
- Uranium is mainly used for generating electricity and also for nuclear energy, medicines, defence equipment and photography, among others.
- It is considered one of the rarest minerals in the world.
- It is a very valuable mineral for nuclear power.
- Apart from nuclear energy, Uranium finds use in defence, medicine, photography and other segments.
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