At which of the following places, asbestos mines are located in Rajasthan ?
- (1)Arjunpura and Piparda
- (2)Kura and Mangol
- (3)Karpura and Fatehgarh
- (4)Depura and Dingri
Answer
Why
Correct — option (1), Arjunpura and Piparda.
Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous silicate minerals. Commercially it falls into two groups: chrysotile, of the serpentine family, and the amphiboles, such as tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite.
Rajasthan's asbestos is mostly amphibole. The Indian Bureau of Mines lists occurrences in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Dungarpur, Pali, Rajsamand and Udaipur districts.
Arjunpura is one of the named deposits. The Department of Mines and Geology's 2022 District Survey Report for Ajmer describes tremolite asbestos at Arjunpura, in ultrabasic rocks. RPSC's key pairs it with Piparda, so the answer is Arjunpura and Piparda.
In a locality-pair question, anchor on the one place you can fix with certainty, then find the option that holds it. Arjunpura appears only in option (1).
Why the others are wrong
- (2)Kura and Mangol — RPSC's final key does not treat this pair as the asbestos localities.
This option shares neither name with option (1), so once Arjunpura is fixed as a tremolite asbestos deposit of Ajmer district, this pair drops out without needing to place Kura or Mangol on the map.
- (3)Karpura and Fatehgarh — RPSC's key does not mark this pair as the asbestos localities.
Fatehgarh names more than one mineral locality in Rajasthan. Ajmer's District Survey Report lists a Fatehgarh among marble and feldspar localities, and the Department of Mines and Geology lists a Fatehgarh in Jaisalmer district among rock phosphate deposits.
A familiar name is no evidence for a particular mineral. The asbestos deposit to anchor on is Arjunpura, in option (1).
- (4)Depura and Dingri — A Depura in Udaipur district appears in the Department of Mines and Geology's list of soapstone deposits.
Soapstone and asbestos can both form in altered ultrabasic rocks, and Udaipur has both minerals, so the pair looks plausible. But RPSC's key gives the asbestos localities as Arjunpura and Piparda.
Concept
Asbestos is a group of six naturally occurring fibrous silicate minerals. Its fibres resist heat, electricity and corrosion, which gave it uses in asbestos-cement sheets and pipes and in insulation. Inhaled asbestos fibres are also a recognised health hazard.
The commercial varieties fall into two groups. Chrysotile belongs to the serpentine group; tremolite, actinolite, anthophyllite, amosite and crocidolite are amphiboles. Chrysotile has the better physical properties and is the more valuable.
The Indian Bureau of Mines describes Rajasthan's asbestos as amphibole. In Ajmer district, the major deposits lie in ultrabasic intrusions within rocks of the Delhi Supergroup, and in Bhilwara asbestos is reported from ultrabasic rocks near Barana in Asind tehsil.
RPSC's 2024 Prelims syllabus lists "Minerals- Metallic & Non-Metallic" under the Geography of Rajasthan. Asbestos is a non-metallic mineral in which Rajasthan holds the largest share of India's resources.
The Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021 lists asbestos in six districts of the Aravalli belt, as the districts then stood — Ajmer, Bhilwara, Dungarpur, Pali, Rajsamand and Udaipur. Deposits are named after nearby villages.
The same districts also hold soapstone, marble and feldspar, so a locality has to be tied to its mineral, not just to its district.
Resources are not output. The Indian Bureau of Mines reported no asbestos production and no reporting mines in 2019-20 or 2020-21, and noted that India's asbestos needs are met through imports.
Key facts
- As on 1 April 2020, India's asbestos resources were 22.90 million tonnes, of which Rajasthan held 13.61 million tonnes (59%).
- Karnataka held 8.28 million tonnes (36%) of India's asbestos resources as on 1 April 2020.
- The Indian Bureau of Mines (Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021) lists asbestos in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Dungarpur, Pali, Rajsamand and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan.
- Ajmer's asbestos deposits include Kanwalai, Kotra, Arjunpura, Kotri and Nai Khurd; Arjunpura carries tremolite asbestos.
- India's asbestos requirement is met through imports from Russia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and China (Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021).
Sources: Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021 (Asbestos); DMG Rajasthan, District Survey Report Ajmer (2022).
Study next
Common traps
- Place names repeat across Rajasthan. A Fatehgarh appears in Ajmer as a marble and feldspar locality and another in Jaisalmer as a rock phosphate deposit, so a familiar name is not evidence for a given mineral.
- Udaipur and Dungarpur have both soapstone and asbestos. A locality in the right district is not automatically an asbestos deposit.
- Rajasthan's asbestos is mostly amphibole, while chrysotile is the commercially superior variety. A statement calling Rajasthan's deposits mainly chrysotile would be wrong.
A question can name a mineral and offer pairs of localities, as this one does, or match minerals with mining areas and ask for the correct or wrong pair.
A question can also ask which districts hold a mineral, or where Rajasthan stands in India's resources of it.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 and 2016 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following varieties of asbestos belongs to the serpentine group rather than the amphibole group ?
- (a)Tremolite
- (b)Chrysotile
- (c)Anthophyllite
- (d)Actinolite
Answer(2) — Chrysotile is serpentine asbestos. Option (1), tremolite, option (3), anthophyllite, and option (4), actinolite, are all amphibole varieties. - practice — not a real PYQ
According to the Indian Bureau of Mines, which State held the largest share of India's asbestos resources as on 1 April 2020 ?
- (a)Karnataka
- (b)Rajasthan
- (c)Jharkhand
- (d)Andhra Pradesh
Answer(2) — Rajasthan held 13.61 million tonnes, 59% of the total. Option (1), Karnataka, was second with 36%. Options (3) Jharkhand and (4) Andhra Pradesh were among the States sharing the remaining 5%.