Postmasburg and its adjacent areas of South Africa is major producer of which of the following minerals ?

Question

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Correct — C, manganese. Postmasburg, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, sits at the southern end of the Kalahari (Postmasburg) Manganese Field, one of the world's largest concentrations of manganese ore. The belt hosts major manganese mines such as Mamatwan, Wessels, Nchwaning and Gloria, and South Africa is the world's leading holder of manganese reserves. So Postmasburg and its adjacent areas are best known as a major manganese-producing region. (The area also yields iron ore — for example the Kolomela mine — but among the four options, manganese is the mineral for which Postmasburg is famous.)

Why the other options are wrong — (a) South Africa's uranium is recovered mainly as a by-product of gold mining in the Witwatersrand basin, not from Postmasburg.  (b) South Africa is not a significant bauxite producer; the world's leading bauxite producers are Australia, Guinea and China — not the Postmasburg belt.  (d) Postmasburg is not a mica district; mica is associated with pegmatite belts (e.g., India's Jharkhand–Bihar and Andhra belts, and Madagascar), not this manganese/iron field.

Concept: World economic geography of minerals — matching a mining district to its principal ore. Postmasburg lies in the Northern Cape of South Africa within the Kalahari Manganese Field, the country's (and among the world's) richest manganese province. South Africa dominates global manganese reserves, with manganese used mainly as a hardening/deoxidising additive in steelmaking (ferro-manganese).

State PCS 2020 Q84 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2020 Q84 — Geography PYQ with Answer