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Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 20:26
by ManishH
Report on Illegal mining presents crisis for Goa CM

After Karnataka, it is the turn of Congress's Goa CM who has been found guilty by Justice Shah commission (according to leaked reports).
There is corruption from top to bottom. Monitoring mechanisms have collapsed
The CM Digambar Kamat was the state's minig minister for past 11 years. The commission examined 122 mines in Goa and found rampant illegal mining of iron ore for export to China. Just last year, Goa exported 54 million tonnes of iron ore.

So Congress in Goa is doing exactly what BJP was doing in Karnataka. Looting national wealth and shipping it to arch strategic rival China. It's mind-boggling to imagine all the ore being turned into steel to fuel Chinese economy by shipping manufactured goods back to India at insane profits! Not to mention the sheer tragedy if the Indian ore is turned into steel to make Chinese military hardware - missiles, ships etc. that one day threaten to rain death upon India.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 10:14
by Jarita
Mining near Vaishno Devi shrine gets nod

http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Mining- ... 733151.cms

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 15 Nov 2011 10:21
by Jarita
Perhaps you have red this about Shela Masood
http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column ... ar_1588433

Also, as recently as July 25th, she wrote letters to minister for environment and forests Jayanthi Natarajan, talking about illegal diamond mining in Chhatarpur. A petition against Rio Tinto, a transnational firm allegedly involved in illegal mining, had already been filed.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 22 Nov 2011 22:00
by Vipul

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 10:54
by Pratyush

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 10 Oct 2012 11:58
by Pratyush

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 30 Nov 2013 05:07
by Vipul
India can be top player in titanium mineral sector.

India has the potential to become the number one in the titanium mineral sector, as the country has the requisite resources, technology and personnel, but the right policy decisions have to be taken and implemented to achieve the objective, according to experts.

The opinion was expressed here on Friday, the concluding day of the International Heavy Minerals Conference.

Steve Gilman, of TZ Minerals International., said India was currently in the fifth position globally in the sector, but the resources, technologies and personnel were available in the country.

There were also certain constraints, as the mineral-rich sands were available only in heavily-populated areas. The availability of fresh water was also a critical factor and the energy costs in India were very high, he said. “If these issues could be addressed, I think India has the potential to become the global leader. I think India is on the right track to achieve the objective,” he said.

He said the private sector should play the crucial role in India as the experience in the other countries showed, but the Government would have to lay down the right policies and implement them. Vertical integration would be required in the industry.

Ram Choudhury, of Mineral Technologies, spoke about the mineral sands processing technologies and the need for constant innovation. He said high grade ores were available in India, but the mineral composition was complex, and therefore complex processing plants would be needed in India and Sri Lanka. But the industry was upgrading the technologies all the time to meet the challenges.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 03 Sep 2014 16:50
by member_28705
The mining of rare earth minerals was at one time dominated by the United States. The People's Republic of China has since come to dominate the market.

Some of the applications of rare earth minerals are:

Praseodymium - Rare Earth Magnets, Lasers
Neodymium - Same as above
Samarium - Same as above, neutron capture, Masers
Scandium - radioactive tracing agent in oil refineries.
Yttrium - Steel additive, High temperature superconductor.
Lanthanum - High refractive Index, Camera Lenses, Hydrogen Storage, Alkali resistant glass.
Promethium - Nuclear Batteries
Thulium - Portable X-ray machines
Lutetium - Positron Emission Tomography.

Japan wants to import these minerals from India [that is after helping India produce it]. This will reduce Japan's reliance on China for these RE minerals.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 09 Sep 2014 03:35
by member_28705
All you wanted to know about the coal-gate scam.
Coal has been a red-hot topic ever since the infamous coal-gate scandal, as the media named it, was flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in March 2012. The Supreme Court is set to rule on one of the aspects of the case today. After a long saga that involved the Prime Minister’s Office, Central Bureau of Investigation and many hearings, the Supreme Court has already declared two weeks ago that all the coal blocks allocated between 1993 and 2012 were illegal.

What is it?

Coal-gate is the moniker attached to the irregularities unearthed by the CAG in the allocation of coal blocks to private parties. The story goes like this. The Central government has a monopoly over all coal reserves in the country, as per the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act of 1973.

However, with Coal India struggling to produce coal from the 1980s, power producers and industries such as steel and cement were in pain. So a new policy was announced in September 1993 to allow private and public sector companies to mine coal for captive use.

The new policy set up a screening committee to recommend who got the blocks, based on certain guidelines. Around 70 coal blocks were allocated between 1993 and 2005 and over double this number were allocated in the next four years.

Even as allocations slowed post 2009 and there were rumblings of controversy, a CAG report in March 2012 added fuel to the fire. The CAG said that the mode of allocation of coal blocks to private parties was subjective and lacked transparency. It also held that the ad-hoc allocations (in place of transparent auctions) of coal blocks to private firms, had caused a whopping loss of ₹1.8 lakh crore to the exchequer. A new policy based on auctions was duly adopted in September 2013, but controversy continued to cloud the older blocks and the issue went to Court.

Why is it important?

A transparent mechanism to pep up coal output is vital to keep the economic engine chugging. Although India ranks fifth in the world when it comes to coal reserves, output has suffered. In 2013-14, for instance, Indian output of 566 million tonnes (mt) was less than the demand of over 720 mt. Importing burns up precious foreign exchange — the coal import bill has more than doubled in the last five years to ₹95,175 crore in 2013-14.

The cost of coal has a crucial bearing on inflation too, via industries such as power, steel and aluminium. Having a dependable coal resource close to where it is consumed will reduce overall costs. Hence, coal resources must be handed out with a eye to greater national interest.

Why should I care?

As a citizen, lack of transparency and favouritism when dealing with precious natural resources is a cause for concern. Also, as a consumer, it is not fair that private power companies that won access to low priced coal were not passing on the benefits to power buyers. You have plenty of reason to worry about coal if you are a stock market investor. For scores of private sector power, aluminium and metal companies are mixed up in coal-gate. Many of their projects could become unviable without captive coal.

The bottomline

Coal-gate is a reminder that if you’re doing business in India and dealing with the Government, the long arm of law can dig up issues even after decades.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opi ... 391682.ece

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 09:05
by Pratyush
Trouble for Modi govt: Coal strike stops output at over 60% mines; unions refuse to budge

The power situation may worsen if the strike continues for more than 10 days.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 11 Feb 2015 11:52
by member_28640
Most Excellent news, Finally GOI is showing some ambition:
Click Here

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 01 Jun 2015 02:55
by Kakkaji
A long-standing problem may be resolved now:

India douses century-old coal fires as PM Narendra Modi seeks output boost
JHARIA (Jharkhand): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to move more than 100,000 people living near coalfields in Jharkhand to new homes, making it easier to douse underground fires that have burned for a century and mine huge reserves of premium coal.

The burning deposits of Jharia are particularly prized because they are the only source of top quality steelmaking coal in the country. India spends $4 billion a year on importing that grade alone.

Modi travelled to Jharkhand in February and urged the chief minister Raghubar Das to speed up work on putting out the fires and shifting the people living there.

"The fact that the prime minister is directly involved shows that the government is very serious about it," coal secretary Anil Swarup said in New Delhi. "It's a huge task but the good news is that we have started moving in the right direction."

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 05 Jun 2015 21:08
by Suraj
Coal Auction 3.0: Mine sale resumes, linkages also to be auctioned to non-power sectors
Resuming coal block auctions, the government has decided to offer 10 mines with a cumulative annual production of 13.14 million tonnes to cement, steel and aluminium companies and captive power producers. In the third phase of auction, there will be no coal mine for power generators.

The public notice for the auction will be issued on Monday and bidding will run from August 11 to 17.

The ministry of coal will also auction linkages to Coal India’s production for five years. So far, such linkages were given out by a committee of officials.

Tweaking the rules for the auction, two phases of which saw 40 coal mines being awarded, multiple bids have been barred. “Only one bid per end-use plant will be allowed. Multiple bids will be treated as one and the top 50 per cent bidders will be decided henceforth,” said Anil Swarup (pictured), secretary in the ministry of coal.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 08 Feb 2017 07:11
by A_Gupta
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/ind ... -minister/
Coal India Ltd, the world’s top coal miner, plans to acquire coking coal assets abroad as India lacks technology to economically develop local reserves, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said.

“The recent spurt in global coal prices, particularly for coking coal, is expected to create an encouraging scenario for such acquisition process,” Goyal told lawmakers in a written reply.

Coking coal futures on the Singapore Commodity Exchange soared in the second half of last year as top consumer China clamped down on local production as part of a campaign against pollution.

They have since dropped by about 40 percent to around $170 a tonne, but are still double what they were in mid-2016.

Coal India has surrendered two mining licenses in Mozambique, and currently does not own any foreign coal assets, he said.

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 27 Apr 2022 04:03
by Vips
India is a rich source of rare earths, but still imports. US collaboration can help change that.

The fourth US-India 2+2 dialogue between S. Jaishankar, Rajnath Singh and Antony Blinker, Llyod Austin this month put the focus back on building cooperation on supply chain resilience, trade partnership for critical and emerging technology to deal with issues of climate, economy and pandemic impact.

Out of all these areas of discussion enhancing India-US partnership, the critical minerals and emerging technology are the major need of the hour for their green future goals.

Rare earth elements and critical minerals
According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, ‘Rare Earth Metals are a family of 17 elements in the periodic table, which involve 15 Lanthanides group elements, along with Yttrium and Scandium. They were discovered in 18th-19th century, with Yttrium being the first and Promethium the last discovered rare earth element.’

These elements are divided into two forms: Heavy and Light Rare Earth Elements. Light rare earth elements are uncritical being abundantly available, while heavy elements are more critical due to their high demand and less availability. Among LREEs, Neodymium is the most critical one as it is extensively used in all mobile phones, medical equipment and electric vehicles. It is important for the manufacturing of permanent magnets that are used in wind turbines and data storage systems. The heavy elements like, dysprosium, yttrium and cerium are critical for clean energy technologies, however, due to their limited supply, they have a small market.

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A greener future
Energy security and shift to a green future have been at the core of the India-US strategic partnership, after their defence and trade relations. The green future partnership began taking shape since the India-US energy dialogue in 2005, which set up five working groups focusing on emerging technologies and renewable energy, besides oil, gas, coal, energy efficiency, and civil nuclear.

Although the two countries have different resource endowments and capabilities, their green future has potential to build a more developed, resilient and sustainable clean energy supply chain. The difference in their preferences was reflected in the Donald Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, while India announced its continued commitment the same year. But the cooperation continued and got most strengthened with the announcement of the Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) in 2018 that emphasised US-India engagement expansion through government and industry channels. As part of SEP, US-India established four technical pillars focusing on oil and gas; power and energy efficiency; renewable energy; and sustainable growth. The pillars of SEP were recognised by the joint statement by Trump and PM Narendra Modi in February 2020.

The US, under President Joe Biden, rejoined the Paris agreement in 2021 and organised the virtual summit on Climate Summary of Proceedings convened by 40 world leaders. The summit involved the US-India joint statement launching the ‘Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership’. As part of this partnership, the US set its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and India shared its objective to install 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.

Critical mineral resilience
In the current scenario of increasing supply chain vulnerabilities and global semiconductor crisis, the world is looking for alternatives and initiatives in the form of resilience. In the case of India and the US, both have become increasingly active in their path to secure a supply chain of critical minerals and elements in the past decade. Recently, both have introduced acts and legislation prioritising the domestic manufacturing capacity that requires secured access to critical elements like the US Compete Act and the Indian Semiconductor Mission. Be it their bilateral or multilateral arrangements, every dialogue involves critical minerals and emerging technology as points of discussion.

Critical minerals are already developing as a new base for US-India multilateral collaboration, as seen in the “Quad critical and Emerging Technology Working group”, which aims to develop supply resilience among Quad members—India, US, Japan, and Australia.

The focus on critical minerals supply chain began primarily after the China-Japan Senkaku-Diaoyu island dispute (2010), which was followed by a rare-earth embargo imposed by China. This was taken as a serious threat by the US, European Union and Japan because they were the major importers of rare earths. This made the US House of Representatives pass H.R. 761 that declared rare earths as essential for economic growth and national security.

The US critical minerals vulnerability got more acute with the US-China trade war (2018), when China retaliated against US-imposed tariffs by restricting the export of rare earths and other critical minerals to China. The Covid-19 pandemic caused global semiconductor shortage added to the growing global critical minerals vulnerability. There have been multiple strategic initiatives announced by the US to develop its domestic critical minerals mining, such as the Strategy to Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals (2017), Onshoring Rare Earth (ORE) Act (2020), US Compete Act (2022), and others.

In the case of India, the economy continued to slow down due to the pandemic. India, as a reservoir of 49 major critical and non-fuel minerals, as reported by the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) and the Ministry of Science & Technology, can be a sustainable source for the manufacturing sector. Despite having a rich deposit of monazite on beach sand, India is 100 per cent import dependent for its rare earth supplies due to its mining being restricted to public sector undertakings (PSUs), particularly, the Indian Rare Earth Limited (IREL) and Kerala REL. The reforms in the Indian mining and downstream sector of critical minerals can boost not only its domestic high-tech manufacturing, but also its green future goals.

In the growing US initiatives to reduce reliance on Chinese raw materials and critical minerals, the India-US strategic partnership is the need of the hour. India, with its mining reforms, and the US with its increasing strategic initiatives, can enhance their supply chain resilience.

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Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 02 Apr 2023 07:11
by sanman

Re: Mining & Processing

Posted: 03 Apr 2023 20:12
by Vips
Record coal output puts 1 billion tonne target within reach.

India posted record growth in coal production at more than 892 million tonne (MT) in 2022-23 from 778 MT in 2021-22, a development prime minister Narendra Modi described in a tweet as an “Outstanding accomplishment in an important sector for economic growth”.

The increase of more than 14% in output puts the one billion tonne production target for 2023-24 within reach, especially in the backdrop of mines auctioned for commercial mining and incentives for starting production ahead of schedule.

The increase in coal output augurs well for the power plants. But simultaneous measures have to be taken to develop transportation infrastructure by the Railways and mechanised loading at mines.

The sharp increase comes on the back of a 34.5% jump in output from captive mines at 121.8 MT and 10.8% increase in Coal India, which produced 703.2 MT to exceed the target of 700 MT, data showed.

It will be pertinent to mention that it was the first time in 17 years that Coal India, which supplies bulk of the fuel for power generation, topped its annual target. The company had exceeded its goal last in 2005-2006 when it produced 343.3 MT of coal against a target of 343 MT.

“This is a historic moment for the coal sector. I congratulate all the coal warriors and stakeholders for the record growth. CIL has done a tremendous job by surpassing 700 MT this year. The coal sector’s contribution to the 4/3/23, 10:29 AM Record coal output puts 1 billion tonne target within reach growth of the economy is powering the rise of India under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and we will continue to meet the nation’s growing energy demand,” coal minister Prahlad Joshi said in a statement.

A draft report by government think-tank Niti Ayog estimated India’s coal demand to peak in the range of 1.1-1.3 billion tonne by 2030. Coal India is expected to produce 1 billion tonnes by 2025-26.

For the billion tonne output target for 2023-24, Coal India has been given the goal to produce 780 MT, followed by 75 MT for SCCL (Singareni Collieries Company Ltd) and 162 MT for captive and commercial mines.