Minerals are unevenly distributed over the earth's surface. Some of the old plateaus and mountains, which have been eroded for millions of years, now contain valuable metallic minerals, which are now exposed on the surface or occur as result of weathering. The Canadian shield, the Ural mountains in Russia, the African plateau in Zaire and South Africa, the Deccan plateau in India are rich in minerals Some of the sedimentary basins contain coal or petroleum or natural gas.
Minerals include all materials extracted from the earth.
The discovery of minerals and their exploitation has often led to rapid economic development of the region. For example, the 'gold rush' led to the development of California in the United States and settlement of people in Australia and parts of South America.…
