With reference to India consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 4 only

Rare earths, thorium and government-only processing.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ CORRECT Monazite is a key source of rare earth elements.

2. ✓ CORRECT It contains thorium (about 8–10%).

3. ✗ WRONG It occurs in certain coastal sands (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra), not the entire coast.

4. ✓ CORRECT Only government bodies (IREL) can process or export monazite, as it is an atomic mineral.

The idea

Heavy minerals accumulate where parent rocks supply the right grains and waves sort the sediment. A rich beach-sand deposit therefore does not imply continuous deposits along a coastline. Thorium-bearing sands also connect ordinary mineral geography with atomic-mineral regulation.

Rocks weather → Streams transport mineral grains → Sediment reaches the shore → Waves remove lighter grains → Dense minerals form local concentrations

Why the others are wrong

(a) Accepts “entire coast”.

(c) Accepts “entire coast”.

(d) Accepts “entire coast”.

The trap

“Entire” coastal sands — the absolute word.

Elimination technique

Local deposits do not establish an entire-coast distribution. Statement 3 is false, and every option except (b) includes it.

Also know

Rutile and ilmenite are titanium minerals; zircon supplies zirconium. Monazite is a rare-earth phosphate that may carry thorium, unlike ordinary quartz sand. Chavara and Manavalakurichi are useful south-coast anchors; the Odisha coast provides an eastern counterpart.