Q1. [3] medium thorough-understanding
Minerals are considered indispensable to modern civilisation. Using specific examples from industry, agriculture, construction, and daily life, justify this statement and explain why the depletion of mineral resources is a matter of serious concern.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:32 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Minerals are indispensable to modern civilisation because industry and agriculture strongly depend on mineral deposits and substances manufactured from them.
- Industry/Construction: Limestone is the basic raw material for cement and essential for smelting iron ore in blast furnaces.
- Electrical/Daily life: Copper, being a good conductor, is used in electrical cables and electronics.
- Agriculture: Minerals form raw materials for fertilisers and farm equipment.
Depletion is a serious concern because minerals are finite and non-renewable — geological processes of formation are so slow that replenishment is infinitely small compared to present rates of consumption. Rich mineral deposits are short-lived possessions.
Source: Conservation of Minerals, Chapter 5
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Explanation
- Examiners expect specific examples (limestone, copper, etc.) — vague statements lose marks.
- The passage directly states minerals are finite and non-renewable; quote/paraphrase this for full credit on the "concern" part.
- For 3 marks: ~1 mark for justified examples, ~1 mark for finite/non-renewable nature, ~1 mark for slow replenishment / short-lived possessions.
- Keep it crisp — no need to list all minerals, 2–3 well-explained examples suffice.