Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute has found large deposits of 15 rare earth elements (REE) in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district.

REE of the lanthanide series are critical components in many electronics devices, like cell phones, televisions, computers, automobiles used daily and in various industrial applications, the report has said. 

NGRI scientists conducted a survey looking for non-traditional rocks like syenites in Anantapur and successfully identified the host minerals. The major REE identified were allanite, ceriate, thorite, columbite, tantalite, apatite, zircon, monazite, pyrochlore euxenite and fluorite. 

In estimated 5.9 million tonnes of reserve of lithium, a crucial mineral for the manufacturing electric vehicles and solar panels, had been discovered in Reasi district by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). 

“Lithium falls in the critical resource category, which was not earlier available in India, and we were dependent for its 100 per cent import. The G3 (advanced) study of the GSI shows the presence of best quality lithium in abundant quantity in the foothills of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Salal village (Reasi),” J&K mining secretary Amit Sharma has said. 

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has recently said that if India can use recently discovered reserve of lithium in Jammu and Kashmir, it can become world’s number one automobile manufacturer in electric vehicle (EV) segment.