Lok Sabha Question No. 245 (STARRED), answered on 2016-05-11
Subject: Rare Earth Minerals
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: RABINDRA KUMAR JENA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.245

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.05.2016

## RARE EARTH MINERALS

*245. SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) the  total  annual  production  of  rare  earth  minerals  such  as  garnet,  ilmenite, leucoxene, monazite, rutile, sillimanite and zircon during the last five years;
- (b) the details of major States producing such minerals in India;
- (c) the details of private players that have been issued licences for production of monazite or extraction of thorium or export of these minerals;
- (d) the details of production and processing of monazite by the Indian Rare Earth Limited (IREL) during the last five years and in the current year; and
- (e) the total quantity of monazite sold as well as exported by IREL during the last five  years  including  the  details  with  the  names  of  the  companies/entities  to whom these important minerals were sold?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR,  PERSONNEL,  PUBLIC  GRIEVANCES  AND PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House

*****

## Government of India Department of Atomic Energy

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.245 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 11.05.2016 BY SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA REGARDING 'RARE EARTH MINERALS'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- (a) The total annual production of Rare Earth Minerals during the last 5 years is as follows:

| Mineral     |   2010-11 (in MT) |   2011-12 (in MT) |   2012-13 (in MT) |   2013-14 (in MT) |   2014-15* (in MT) |
|-------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|--------------------|
| Ilmenite    |            663217 |            718612 |            738524 |            721959 |             503282 |
| Rutile      |             26593 |             20225 |             16527 |             13459 |              15934 |
| Zircon      |             33230 |             25996 |             21125 |             19017 |              14833 |
| Sillimanite |             48784 |             59206 |             43736 |             61597 |              66025 |
| Garnet      |           2126337 |           1717904 |            768248 |            457626 |              78924 |

Production of Leucoxene is included in Ilmenite. It is not in the public interest to disclose the production details of Monazite.  The above information is as per the Indian Mineral Year Book published by Indian Bureau of Mines.

- (b) Major  states  producing  such  minerals  are  Odisha,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
- (c) "As  per  Section  2  of  Atomic  Energy  Act,  1962,  Monazite  is  a  prescribed substance and no private players have been issued licenses for production of monazite or processing for extracting thorium or the export of these minerals
- (d)
- It is not in the Public Interest to disclose the Monazite production

The production of Monazite is based on its unique physical properties namely high specific gravity  (5.1),  non-conducting  and  feebly  magnetic  nature. Accordingly Monazite is processed using gravity, electrostatic and magnetic separation methods. Specialized equipments such as Floatex, High Tension Separators  (HTS),  Electrostatic  Plate  Separators  (EPS),  Rare  Earth  Drum Magnetic  Separators  (REDMS)  and  Rare  Earths  Roll  Magnetic  Separators (RERMS) are used in its separation.

- (e) Domestic sales of monazite by IREL during the last five years is Nil.

Details of exports of monazite by IREL during the last five years is as under:

| Year    | Quantity (MT)   | Company               |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------------|
| 2015-16 | 6               | Chuo Bussan Co, Japan |
| 2014-15 | 2               | Chuo Bussan Co, Japan |
| 2013-14 | 2               | Chuo Bussan Co, Japan |
| 2012-13 | Nil             |                       |
| 2011-12 | 4               | Chuo Bussan Co, Japan |
| Total   | 14              |                       |

*****