Jammu & Kashmir Auctions Its First Two Mineral Blocks

The correct answer is limestone. Both the blocks auctioned in the Union Territory are limestone blocks, named the Koot-Kapran Limestone Block and the Wantrag Limestone Block, and both lie in Anantnag district. Option A, bauxite, is wrong because no bauxite block figures in this auction; bauxite is associated with other states and not with these two blocks. Option C, iron ore, is wrong for the same reason, as the resource estimates announced here are limestone estimates. Option D, manganese ore, is wrong as well, since neither block was put up as a manganese holding. Aspirants should tie the mineral to the place, because questions on a first-ever auction usually ask for the mineral and the district together: limestone, Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir.

The correct answer is Anantnag. Both the Koot-Kapran Limestone Block and the Wantrag Limestone Block lie in Anantnag district of the Union Territory, and the first of them is located more precisely in Koot and Kapran villages of Dooru Tehsil. Option A, Baramulla, is wrong because no block in this auction is placed there. Option B, Udhampur, is wrong for the same reason, and it has been offered because it is a familiar district name from the Jammu region. Option D, Kathua, is wrong as well, since neither of the auctioned holdings falls in that district. The district is the detail a paper setter is most likely to combine with the mineral, so remember the pair together, along with the tehsil name Dooru for the Koot-Kapran block.

The correct answer is 10.853 million tonnes. The Wantrag Limestone Block covers 5.36 hectares and carries that estimated limestone resource, and it has been explored up to the G-3 stage, a stage reached with 159 metres of drilling. Option A is wrong because that figure belongs to the other block in the same auction, the Koot-Kapran Limestone Block, which spreads over 22.43 hectares; swapping the two estimates is the commonest error on this question. Option B is wrong because no such estimate was announced for either holding. Option D is wrong for the same reason, the figure being larger than anything reported here. Note the contrast worth remembering: Wantrag is the smaller block by area but the richer one by estimated resource.

The correct answer is the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. The Government of Jammu & Kashmir entrusted the auction of its mineral blocks to the Ministry of Mines, which carried out the process under the Central Government mineral auction route and announced the successful result. Option B is wrong because the Geological Survey of India is not named as the body that ran this auction. Option C is wrong because NITI Aayog has no role in auctioning mineral blocks and is a policy institution. Option D is wrong because the Indian Bureau of Mines is not identified here as the auctioning authority either. The ministry has said it will continue to work with the Union Territory government on transparent and responsible development of its mineral resources.