Beach Placer Deposits of India, their Distribution, Mineralogy and Sustainable-Mining with Reference to Placer Ilmenite

In recent years the importance of placer minerals in modern technology has been realized. Technological development is aimed at strategic and economic applications which are mostly dependent on titanium, zirconium and rare earths, in the form of their metals / compounds or alloys. The placer deposits are the treasure houses for ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene all titanium minerals, zircon ore for zirconium and hafnium, monazite source for cerium, thorium and other light rare earths, garnet the most preferred abrasive and sillimanite an excellent refractory mineral. These minerals of economic importance have prompted the placer mineral deposits exploration and exploitation in this country. These deposits are identified along the East and West coasts of India and the total heavy mineral content (THM) of these placers ranges from 12 % to 15 % by weight. Out of these total heavy mineral content Ilmenite forms almost 40 % of the THM. However, the abundance of other minerals varies from deposit to deposit. The details pertaining to mineralogy, industrial uses and production figures of placers in general and ilmenite in particular, compared to other countries have been presented. The scenario of placer ilmenite at world level compared to Indian potential has been reviewed. An attempt is made to present the possible environmental impacts to be considered on the sensitive coastal ecosystem, before initiating mining and processing of these placer sand deposits. It is suggested that environmentally friendly methods of mining and processing may be insisted to reduce the impact on the environment