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Atomic minerals include mainly minerals containing uranium, thorium, rare metals, viz. niobium, tantalum, lithium, beryllium, titanium, zirconium, and rare earth elements (REEs) containing uranium and thorium as well as beach sand minerals. In India, these minerals are specified in Part B of the First Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and a few of these minerals containing uranium, thorium, niobium, tantalum and beryllium are included in the list of ‘Prescribed Substances’ under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. After independence, different units of the Department of Atomic Energy have been playing a key role in making India self-reliant in these minerals and their processing. In the front end, the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research shoulders the responsibility for survey, exploration, and augmentation of atomic mineral(s) resources. The Uranium Corporation of India Limited is responsible for mining and processing of uranium ores, while the Indian Rare Earths (India) Limited caters to the mining of monazite-rich beach sands for recovery and processing of thorium and REEs. These three units of the DAE are ably supported by the Materials Group of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, for technology development for mineral beneficiation and processing to produce metals/alloys/compounds required to support the requirements for expanding the nuclear power programme of India.
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