Rajasthan enters uranium mining

Context

The Rajasthan government has forayed into the field of uranium mining by issuing a letter of intent (LoI) to Uranium Corporation of India.

The LoI is for excavation of ore of this rare mineral in the state. Mining of the rare mineral will start after fulfilling necessary formalities.

India’s department of atomic energy first found uranium deposits in the Khandela area of Sikar.
Around 12 million tonnes of uranium and other elements are expected to be lying deep down under this area.

Currently, the states of Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh have India’s largest uranium mines.
- After Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan is the third state where uranium — which is considered one of the rare minerals in the world — has been found.
India also imports its rare mineral needs from the world’s largest uranium-producing nations like Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Canada.
Currently, excavation of uranium is going on at Jadugoda in Jharkhand as well as Andhra Pradesh.

The largest producers of uranium in the world are Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia, while this mineral has also been found in Niger, Russia, Namibia, Uzbekistan, the US and Ukraine.

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the periodic table, with atomic number 92.
Uranium is mainly used for generating electricity and also for nuclear energy, medicines, defence equipment and photography, among others.
It is considered one of the rarest minerals in the world.
It is a very valuable mineral for nuclear power.
Apart from nuclear energy, Uranium finds use in defence, medicine, photography and other segments.