Green panel defers decision on Hutti Gold Mines project

Green panel defers decision on Hutti Gold Mines project

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The Centre's green panel has deferred its decision on granting green clearance to a project of Hutti Gold Mines in Chitradurga district of Karnataka for want of more information.

The state-owned Hutti Gold Mines Ltd (HGML)'s proposal is to produce 250 tonnes per day (TPD) of gold ore by underground mining in a lease area of 62.72 hectares located at Guddada Rangavvana Halli village in Chitradurga. The total cost is estimated to be around Rs 10 crore.

"The HGML's proposal was examined by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Environment Ministry during last month's meeting. The committee deliberated at length the information submitted by the project proponent and deferred the proposal and sought more information," a senior government official said.

The EAC has sought No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the forest department as forest land is involved in the mine lease area, the official said.

The company has also been asked to submit the approved mine plan of the lease area and the time bound action plan with budgetary provisions on issues raised during public hearing.

HGML has also been asked to submit a report on cyanide toxicity with particular reference to the occupational health as well as the conservation plan of the wildlife species reported in the study area.

The panel has also asked the company to revise the list of species proposed to be planted as the green belt and include in the list the indigenous and fruit bearing trees.

As per the proposal, the total mineable reserves in this area are 3.44 lakh tonnes. It is proposed to produce 97,009 tonnes of gold (Au) ore during the first five-year plan period and later to that balance 2,46,992 tonnes will be mined in remaining nine years.

The life of the mine is 14 years. The entire mining lease area falls in revenue-agriculture land.

The Environment Ministry gives final clearance to the project based on the recommendations of the EAC.