The important uses of aluminum are:
(i) It is used for making pots and pans because it is a good conductor of heat.
(ii) Aluminium conducts electricity and is used to make electrical wires.
(iii) Aluminium is used to make cans to store various beverages and other liquids.
(iv) It can be pressed into a thin foil so it is used both commercially and in homes for purposes like wrapping food for storage.
(v) Aluminium is light and strong, so it is widely used in manufacturing aeroplanes and spacecrafts. It can be made even stronger by mixing it with other metals to form some important alloys.

Minerals are important for every country for its development. They need to be conserved due to following reasons: 
1.Industry and agriculture depend upon minerals and the substances are manufactured from them. Workable minerals are in insufficient quantities.
2. We are rapidly consuming mineral resources that require millions of years to be renewed.
3. The natural rate of replenishment is very small in comparison to the present rates of consumption.
4. Mineral resources are finite and non-renewable. Mineral deposits in our country will get exhausted in the future.
5. Due to decrease in good quality and amount, they come from great depths the costs of mineral extraction is increasing.

Minerals generally occur in rocks of these forms:
1. In igneous and metamorphic rocks, minerals occur in the veins and the lodes. Major metallic minerals like tin, copper, zinc, lead etc are obtained from these veins and lodes.
2. In sedimentary rocks, minerals occur in layers. Coal and some forms of iron ore are found like this. Minerals such as gypsum, potash, salt and sodium salt are found as a result of evaporation especially in arid regions.
3. Inthe decomposed surface rocks (a residual mass of weathered material), bauxite is formed.
4. In alluvial deposits or placer deposits, minerals which are not corroded by water are found. Such as gold, silver, tin and platinum.
5.  Inocean floor vast quantities of manganese nodules are found. Common salt, magnesium and bromine are largely derived from ocean waters.

Non-Conventional Resources : The resources which are not so common in use, but can be used as alternate resources and are renewable are known as Non-Conventional Resources. For example, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Geothermal Energy.
There is a pressing need to use these sources of energy for the following reasons :
(i) The growing consumption of energy has resulted in the country becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.
(ii) Rising prices of oil and gas and their potential shortages have raised uncertainties about the security of energy supply in future, which, in turn, has serious repercussions on the growth of the national economy.
(iii) Moreover, increasing use of fossil fuels also causes serious environmental problems.

Some advantages of biogas are:
(i) It is very cheap to produce.
(ii) Biogas can be easily generated.
(iii) It can be produced by making use of bio-wastes.
(iv) It is largely used in rural areas.

The advantages of coal are:
(i) It is abundantly available in the earth.
(ii) It is one of the most primitive source of energy. 
The disadvantages of coal are:
(i) The transportation cost of coal is very high.
(ii) It is one of the most polluting fuel as it produces lots of smoke when burnt and is responsible for global warming.

Un the basis of metals, minerals are classified into two categories;
(i) Metallic minerals
(ii) Non-Metallic minerals
(i) Metallic Minerals : Metallic minerals are those which are good conductors of heat and electricity
because of the presence of the metals inside. These metallic minerals are further classified on the
basis of iron content as:
(a) Ferrous minerals: The minerals which have iron content are called ferrous minerals, e.g.
Manganese.
(b) Non-ferrous minerals: The minerals which do not contain iron in them but, they certainly have
some other metal in them, e.g. Copper. 
(ii) Non-Metallic minerals: These minerals are not molded into any form and are a bad conductor of electricity. Limestone is a good example of nonmetallic minerals.

India is rich in mineral wealth and a leading producer of minerals among the world. It has a great potential of mineral wealth.
The distribution of Iron, Manganese, Limestone and Gold in India is as follows :
(i) Iron : Iron is extensively found in various states of India. Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are important producers of iron are.
(ii) Manganese : Manganese is a mineral used in industries. It is found in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
(iii) Limestone : Limestone is an important organic sedimentary mineral. Major limestone producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat. Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
(iv) Gold: Gold is a precious mineral. It is mainly used in jewellery making. Kolar in Karnataka has rich deposits of gold in India.

Generally, it is believed that mining is the only form of mineral extraction. hilt ~here are many other techniques for mineral extraction.
These are :
(i)Mining: Mining is the process of excavation of the minerals both from deep as well as shallow areas. There are two methods of mining:
(a) Open cast mining : It is a mining technique in which material is extracted by digging a large hole, rather than tunneling.
(b) Shaft mining : It is a type of underground mining done by use of a rnineshaft. It may also refer to the act of excavation the shaft itself.
(ii) Drilling: It is a type of shaft mining. It is generally used for oil and natural gas excavation.
(iii) Quarrying: It is generally used to extract minerals which lie near the surface by simply digging.