Ilmenite and rutile, abundantly available in certain coastal tracts of India, are rich sources of wh

Question

Ilmenite and rutile, abundantly available in certain coastal tracts of India, are rich sources of which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

India is endowed with large resources of heavy minerals which occur mainly along coastal stretches of the country and also in inland placers. Heavy mineral sands comprise a group of seven minerals, viz, ilmenite, leucoxene (brown ilmenite), rutile, zircon, sillimanite, garnet and monazite. Ilmenite (FeO.TiO2) and rutile (TiO2) are the two chief minerals of titanium. Titanium dioxide occurs in polymorphic forms as rutile, anatase (octahedrite) and brookite. Hence option (d) is the correct answer. Ilmenite and rutile along with other heavy minerals are important constituents of beach sand deposits found right from Moti Daman-Umbrat coast (Gujarat) in the west to Odisha coast in the east.