Mining

The Chota Nagpur Plateau is the richest mineral belt in India, and Jharkhand produces more than a third (by value) of all the minerals extracted in the country. Jharkhand produces almost the entire national output of copper, kyanite (an alumina-silica mineral used in the manufacture of heat-resistant porcelain), pyrite (an iron disulfide mineral used in the manufacture of sulfuric acid), and phosphate and much of the output of bauxite (a source of aluminum), mica, coal, kaolin (china clay), fireclay, and iron ore. Coal accounts for most of Jharkhand mineral production. The principal coalfields, all in the Damodar River valley, supply nearly all the coking coal of India. Singhbhum, together with districts in adjoining Orissa state, contains one of the world's richest hematite iron ore deposits. Copper is mined and smelted near Ghatsila, in the Singhbhum district. Singhbhum is also important for kyanite, manganese, chromite, apatite (rock phosphate, a source of fertilizer), and uranium.