Apedia Logo Apedia
Join

Choose Language

Select your preferred reading language
🇬🇧
English
✔
🇮🇳
हिन्दी
✔
✕
Full View
Geography
Mineral Resources
EN हिंदी
✕
UPSC Prelims 2022 Paper-1 📅 05 Jun, 2022

With reference to India, consider the following statements:
1. Monazite is a source of rare earths.
2. Monazite contains thorium.
3. Monazite occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India.
4. In India, Government bodies only can process or export monazite.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
B
(b) 1, 2 and 4 only
C
(c) 3 and 4 only
D
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Result Summary
Logo

APEDIA

UPSC Prelims
2022 • 05 Jun, 2022 • Paper-1
With reference to India, consider the following statements:
1. Monazite is a source of rare earths.
2. Monazite contains thorium.
3. Monazite occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India.
4. In India, Government bodies only can process or export monazite.

Which of the statements given above are correct?
Correct Answer
(b) 1, 2 and 4 only
Mineral Properties: Statement 1 is correct as monazite is a primary reddish-brown phosphate mineral ore for several rare earth elements. Statement 2 is also cor......
Ref/Book : UPSC Prelims 2022
Ref. Subject Geography
Chapter -
Ref. Topic Mineral Resources
Pg. No -
💡 Analysis & Explanation
Mineral Properties ▼
Statement 1 is correct as monazite is a primary reddish-brown phosphate mineral ore for several rare earth elements. Statement 2 is also correct because it consistently contains significant amounts of radioactive thorium.
Geographical Distribution ▼
Statement 3 is incorrect. While abundant, monazite does not occur uniformly across the 'entire' Indian coastline; its heavy concentrations are highly localized, primarily found in the beach sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Odisha.
Regulatory Framework ▼
Statement 4 is correct. Due to its radioactive nature and immense strategic importance, the extraction, processing, and export of monazite are strictly monopolized by government entities like Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL).
Conclusion ▼
Statements 1, 2, and 4 are factually precise.
← Prev
28 / 100
Next →