President Pranab Mukherjee today presented the National Geoscience Awards for 2014 to scientists at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Speaking on the occasion, he said, availability and use of minerals in any country has been one of the factors determining self-sufficiency of its economy. He said, these natural resources have to be explored, extracted, refined and processed in an environmentally sustainable manner.<br/><br/>Mr Mukherjee said, the search for the near surface deposits have reached a point of saturation, the geoscientists now face the crucial challenge of finding deep seated and concealed mineral resources. The President emphasized the need to focus on exploration of the offshore mineral resources which hold enormous potential of supplementing the increasing needs of the society.<br/><br/>He said, it is also important to find strategic and rare earth elements to support Space and Information Technology Missions of the Nation to ensure self-reliance in these fields. However, all of this needs to be accomplished with the environmental sustainability concern in mind. The awards are given to individuals and scientists for their extraordinary achievements and outstanding contributions in fundamental and applied geo-sciences and mining and allied fields.