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SLATE, AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES

Indian Minerals Yearbook 2019 (Part- III : Mineral Reviews)

58th Edition

30.21 SLATE, SANDSTONE & OTHER DIMENSION STONES

(ADVANCE RELEASE)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES INDIAN BUREAU OF MINES

Indira Bhavan, Civil Lines, NAGPUR – 440 001

PHONE/FAX NO. (0712) 2565471 PBX : (0712) 2562649, 2560544, 2560648 E-MAIL : [email protected] Website: www.ibm.gov.in

March, 2020

30-21-1 SLATE, SANDSTONE AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES 30-21 Slate, Sandstone & Other Dimension Stones

late, sandstone, limestone and quartzite are RESERVES/RESOURCES the principal types used as dimension S Attempts to consolidate and prepare an stones other than and . India is endowed with abundant resources of these types of authentic inventory of slate are underway. dimension stones which are increasingly used by However, the total reserves resources of slate as per domestic consumers. These stones are also important NMI database based on UNFC system (as on export commodities. India is one of the largest 01.04.2015) is placed at 22.9 million tonnes under producers of dimension stones in the world. Unclassified grade. Reserves/Resources are located 1. SLATE in Andhra Pradesh & Haryana (Table- 1). Slate is a fine-grained, very low-to-low metamorphic EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT rock possessing well-developed fissility (splitting The exploration & development details, if any, attitude) tendencies that are parallel to the planes of are covered in the Review on "Exploration & slaty cleavage. It is formed by the of Development" in "General Reviews". pre-existing rocks, such as, claystone, or siltstone. The most remarkable feature of this rock is PRODUCTION that it has cleavage planes that are well-marked which enable it to be split manually or mechanically into As per Govt of India Notification S.O. 423(E), relatively thin slabs. Slate is a low-cost decorative stone dated 10th February 2015, 'slate' has been declared as used for exterior and interior decoration of buildings. It 'Minor Mineral' hence the producers report the is significantly used in roofing. It is also used as school production data directly to the respective States slate and also as building . The and not to IBM. However, efforts were made to collect aesthetic value of slate matches that of other dimension this information through correspondence with the stones, granite and marble. Slate has emerged as a low State Directorates of Mining and Geology of cost alternative to granite and marble which are individual States or visiting their websites. But data comparatively expensive. The exports of slate have only a few States could be collected. All possible increased over the period and this has brought a sense information/data that could be gathered has been of reckoning to Slate Mining Industry of the country. presented in this Review. Micaceous and chlorite slates are generally preferred Statewise production of slate is furnished in among many slate stone varieties. Table-2. OCCURRENCES Table-2: State-wise P roduction of Slate The Aravalli Mountain ranges in Rajasthan (In tonnes) and Haryana; rock assemblages under Kadapa Year System in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; State and Himalayan region in Northern India are the 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 regions where slate deposits along with other Andhra Pradesh - 42190 - metamorphosed products are abundantly known to be present. The availability of slates has also been Himachal Pradesh 1539 2775 2859 reported from Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Rajasthan - 1900 - Pradesh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Source: As received from State DGMs and their websites. Uttarakhand, Bihar and Gujarat. Note : " - " NA

30-21-2 SLATE, SANDSTONE AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES 3362 22872 22872 19510 Total (A+B) resources - (In '000 tonnes) (B) 2586 2586 2586 Total - - - - STD334 Reconnaissance - 1511 1511 1511 Inferred STD333 - - - - STD332 Indicated - - - - Remaining Resources STD331 Measured - 1075 1075 1075 STD222 - - - - Pre-feasibility STD221 - - - - (ByGrade/States) STD211 Feasibility 776 (A) Total 20286 20286 19510 - - - - Table– 1: Reserves/Resources ofSlate as on1.4.2015 STD122 Reserves Probable - 667 667 667 STD121 109 Proved STD111 19619 19619 19510 Grade/State All India : Total By Grade Unclassified By States Andhra Pradesh Haryana Figures rounded off.

30-21-3 SLATE, SANDSTONE AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES USES AND SPECIFICATIONS The reserve/resource estimation has not been There are two main uses of slate as a natural considered important because of its abundance and stone in building work: 1) for roofing in the form of easy availability. Hence, there is no comprehensive roofing and 2) for flooring in the form of tiles inventory of sandstone. However, the Centre for and for cladding purposes. Development of Stones (CDOS), a 'Government of Rajasthan Undertaking' has reported estimated For roofing tiles, the slate stone should be reserves of sandstone at over 1,000 million tonnes in exfoliated easily and should be free from minerals the country. Huge deposits of sandstone in like iron sulphides or carbonates which after a period Rajasthan are associated with Vindhyan and Trans- of time could cause corrosion and staining. For Aravalli Formations, exposed over an area of nearly cladding or flooring purposes, the slate stone should withstand the impact of the cutting processes 35,000 sq. km covering districts of Dholpur, Bharatpur, involved for producing required sizes, polishing or Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Bundi, Jhalawar, smoothening process by machines and should not Kota, Bhilwara and Chittorgarh. It is also found peel off during the process of fixing or laying. Bureau scattered in the districts of western desert plain in of Indian Standard has laid down Standard IS: 6250- the districts of Jodhpur, Churu, Bikaner and Nagaur. 1981 (First revision; reaffirmed 2008) namely, Splittable sandstone deposits are confined to an area specification for roofing slate tiles with respect to of 16,000 sq. km, out of which 10,000 sq. km lies in requirement of dimensions, physical properties and eastern and south-eastern Rajasthan and 6,000 sq. workmanship of slate tiles used for sloped roof km in western Rajasthan. covering. In Gujarat, fine to medium-grained sandstone of 2. SANDSTONE varying colours ranging from white, light-purplish, reddish-brown, cream to yellow are found in the Sandstone is a largely made district of Kachchh. A brownish-yellow sandstone up of sand grains in size ranging from 2 mm to 120 mm of varying compositions. The sand may occurs near Chabari and Mainapara in Bhachau consist of grains of , felspar and other detrital tehsil. The sandstone at Rampur, Katada-Roha and minerals with interstitial cementing material. The Rajoda Dungar near Mangwana in Nakhtrana tehsil composition of sand particles and the cementing is cream coloured and is fairly hard. Extensive material by and large defines the colour of sandstone deposits are found around Songir, Naswadi, Ghautoli, while the mode of formation decides the thickness Namaria and Lachharas in District Vadodara. of bed which gives rise to various types of The Vindhyan and Satpura Mountains in . Madhya Pradesh have vast resources of sandstone. The colour of sandstone may range from The red, cream and white sandstone are being dark red to brown, earthy to buff, white, yellow and quarried extensively in Panna and Shivpuri districts a number of other shades. The pattern of the and in many areas near Jabalpur. sandstone depends upon the thickness of bed. In Uttar Pradesh, sandstones suitable for Sandstone produced in the country is being marketed making slabs and tiles are located in Agra, Mirzapur, as Vindhyan Red, Rainbow, Teak, Modak, Bundi, Lalitpur, Allahabad and Sonbhadra districts. The Bansi Pink, Mandana, Dholpur Cream, etc. The sandstone of Lalitpur district is yellow, light green sandstone may occur as massive, thick, and maroon and takes good polish. The sandstone non-splittable bands or thin beds or layers that can in Lalitpur occurs in Madanpur and Rampura (near be split by applying slight pressure. Deogarh) areas and is traded under the commercial RESERVES/RESOURCES name Royal , Beach Sand and U.P. Green. The Occurrences of sandstone in India are spread sandstone of Agra occurring in Tatpur area is red across Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, and mottled and is used for interior as well as exterior Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, flooring and cladding. In Mirzapur and Karnataka, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Sonbhadra areas, good quality buff to pale and Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. creamish sandstone is available.

30-21-4 SLATE, SANDSTONE AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES The felspathic sandstone occurring with Limestone has been used since ancient the coal seams as overburden is also used times for construction of houses, flooring as building stone. The Kamthi Sandstone occurring and for various other building purposes. In in and around Tehsil Saoner, District Nagpur in recent times, the use of limestone has increased Maharashtra is being quarried and is used as manifold mainly for interior flooring, as cobble stones building stone. and for decorative purposes in combination with EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT other stones because of its availability in a ranged of colours and shades. Depending upon the place of The exploration & development details, if any, origin of limestone and its colour, various types of are covered in the Review on "Exploration & nomenclatures have been used in the trade for Development" in "General Reviews". limestone, such as, Kadapa Stone, Shahabad Stone, PRODUCTION Kota Stone with different shades and colours (Kota Sandstone being building stone comes under Blue, Kota Brown, etc.), Kachchh Stone, Miliolitic 'Minor Mineral' as defined in Clause (e) of the Limestone, etc. Section 3 of MM(DR) Act 1957, hence the producers OCCURRENCES report the production data directly to the respective Occurrences of dimension limestone have been States and not to IBM. Production data for sandstone reported from several regions across various States, is not available. such as, Shahabad Stone of Vijapura at Kalaburagi 3. DIMENSION LIMESTONE and Belagavi districts in Karnataka; and 'Kadapa The limestone which is used as dimension Stone' of Kurnool at Anantapur and Guntur stone differs from the limestone used for cement districts and 'Tandur Stone' of Kadapa making or for any other industrial purpose in district in Andhra Pradesh, etc. Other coloured well- two ways — firstly, chemical composition and known limestones are from Bethamcherla, Tadipatri secondly, the mode of occurrence. In both the types, & Macherla areas in Andhra Pradesh and the major constituent is calcium carbonate, but, very Nereducherla & Muddimanikyam in Telangana. high silica content gives limestone sufficient Occurrence of 'Milliolitic Limestone' from Saurashtra hardness to be utilised as a dimension or building region, 'Yellow Limestone' in Kachchh district of stone. The industrial limestone occurs as massive Gujarat, 'Kota Limestone' in Kota district and 'Yellow formation with less intercalations while in case of Limestone' in Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan have also dimensional limestone, thin-bedded deposits are been reported from across the country. preferred. Limestone which is compact and Rajasthan is richly endowed with the occurrence amorphous in texture is known as flaggy or splittable of greenish-grey 'Kota' limestone. The Kota stone limestone and is quarried in the form of thin has gained tremendous popularity and is widely used slabs ranging in thickness from 12 mm to 50 mm for flooring and cladding purposes. The important in ready-to-use form. Statewise production of deposits of limestone are in Kota, Jhalawar, limestone slabs used as dimension stone is Chittorgarh. and Jaisalmer districts, Rajasthan. Kota, furnished in Table-3 Jhalawar and Chittorgarh are the major districts that Table-3: Statewise Production of Limestone Slabs produce dimension limestone in the State. Extensive (In sq m) limestone deposits are found in the Upper Stage of

Year the Lower Vindhyans and these limestone varieties State have good potential to be used as cement-grade 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 limestone as well as flooring stone. Certain portions Andhra Pradesh 17900798 23723895 - of the limestone having splittable form are used Telangana 3446828 3806327 3674418 extensively as flooring stones. Occurrences of Rajasthan 3925951 3653001 - limestone in the north-south belt from Dalla-ka-Khera Source: As received from State DGMs and their websites. to Nimbahera which extend into Madhya Pradesh Note : " - " NA covering a distance of about 70 km have been

30-21-5 SLATE, SANDSTONE AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES established. It is fine-grained, thinly bedded and has 4. OTHER DIMENSIONAL STONES a total thickness of about 150 m. At a few places, the In addition to the dimension stones already major portion of the limestone deposit is suitable for described, other dimension stones are also quarried cement making but there are pockets, containing and used for the construction of houses and other splittable forms that can be used for building and building purposes. flooring purposes directly. In Odisha, Karnataka, Goa and in parts of Occurrences of yellow limestone deposits in coastal States, laterite is quarried in huge quantities. Jaisalmer is of Jurassic Age and is found in Bada It is utilised as in the construction of houses Bag, Mool Sagar and Kanod villages of Jaisalmer. It and pavements. Huge deposits of basalt in contains 42 to 51% calcium oxide and has a thickness of about 3 m. It is quarried in the form of blocks and Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat are used as can be sawed into slabs and tiles. It is also termed as building stones since ancient times. Quartzite bands yellow marble as it takes reasonably good polish. occurring along with are also utilised for building purposes. Flaggy limestone deposits of Jhalawar and Ramganjmandi, Kota area belong to Lower Vindhyan In addition, stone aggregates, such as, Group and are available in plenty at Sarola Kotri broken and sized pieces of limestone, dolomite, Chitawa and Khokhriya-Khurd areas. Extensive quartzite and sandstone are mixed either with cement deposits are available near Ramganjmandi, Aroliya for building and road-making purposes or with and Parolia areas. Ramganjmandi and Jhalawar Road asphalt for mending road. To utilise the huge waste are the main railway stations from where the splittable generated during mining and processing, a new limestone produced is dispatched to various parts variety of man-made stone 'Terrazo'' has been of the country. In the last few years, export market of developed, which is composed of stone chips set in this limestone which is popularly known as 'Kota cement, epoxy or polyacrylate and then polished. Stone' has been vastly significant. The Terrazo is an economical alternative to solid EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT marble slabs or tiles. The exploration & development details, if any, 5. FELSITE are covered in the Review on "Exploration & Felsite is a fine evenly-grained acid or Development" in "General Reviews". intermediate igneous rock, usually occurring as dykes USES & SPECIFICATIONS and veins in country rocks and in the parent plutonic mass. BIS has prescribed the specification IS:10874- Application of Kota Stone ranges from 1983 (reaffirmed 2010) for felsite grinding media and interior flooring, wall cladding to exterior use in liner stones. Felsite has architectural, industrial and paving and facades for building of all kinds and types. antiquity uses. As per GOI Notification S.O.423(E), dated 10.2.2015, felsite has been declared as 'Minor The Kota Stone has a natural split non-slip Mineral', hence the production beyond January, 2015 surface. Massive, dense and fine-grained varieties is not available with IBM. However, the production are generally durable as these are not porous. These value of felsite was provisionally estimated at are tough and have a crushing strength of ` 13.01 crore during 2015-16. 17.8 kg/mm2 and a high compressive strength of over 2,189 kg/cm2. Abrasion value of Kota Stone is 18.12 TRADE POLICY to 18.32 and it has a high resistance to delamination As per the Export-Import Policy announced for and failure under freezing and thawing conditions. the period 2015-20; and the Foreign Trade Policy Bureau of Indian Standards has prescribed thereunder, the imports of slate blocks or slabs Specification for Limestone (Slab & Tiles) as whether or not roughly trimmed or merely cut are IS : 1128 - 1974 (First Revision, reaffirmed 2008). restricted under Heading no. 2514.

30-21-6 SLATE, SANDSTONE AND OTHER DIMENSION STONES Import of crude or roughly trimmed/cut FUTURE OUTLOOK blocks or slabs of sandstone and other monumental Slate is mostly used as a roofing material, or building stones, viz, pakur stone, stone boulders, but other uses like cladding and flooring tiles and others, are restricted under Heading no. 2516. are also gaining momentum. Slate occurs widely in However, sets of curbstones and of the country and detailed study has to be conducted natural stone (except slate) under Heading no. 6801 to quantify the resources. The demand for dimension and worked monumental building stone (excluding stones including sandstone & others and stone slate), tiles, cubes and similar articles of natural stone products is anticipated to grow at around 15%. including slate, under Heading No. 6802 can be A similar growth is also expected in exports. imported freely. Worked slate and articles of slate or The demand for artifacts, especially carved work of agglomerated slate under Sub-heading 6803 can is on the rise all over the world. India with its rich also be imported freely. Exports of stone aggregates tradition of craftmanship and trained artisans can which are restricted under Chapter 25 of ITC (HS), embark upon the world market. 2015-20, Schedule 2-Export policy, are permitted to Improved quarrying, finishing & hauling be exported to Maldives subject to ceiling limits. The technology, availability of greater variety limits are 5.5 lakh tonnes and 6 lakh tonnes for the of stones and the rising cost of alternative years 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively. The annual construction materials are among the factors that ceilings are monitored by CAPEXIL and is subject to suggest that the demand for dimension stones in exporters obtaining appropriate clearances. future would see steady and consistant growth.

30-21-7