NITI Aayog plans policy to recover critical minerals from mine waste

A technical committee is examining royalty, incentives and commercial viability for extracting critical minerals from mining waste before submitting policy recommendations to the government

The government’s policy think tank, NITI Aayog, is working on recommendations to facilitate the recovery of critical minerals from mine overburden, tailings and other mining waste, with a technical committee examining finer details of the plan.

 

The committee has been constituted to assess the potential for extracting critical minerals from mining waste and has held deliberations with companies including Coal India, Singareni Collieries, Jindal Steel and the Adani Group, said Anupam Lahiri, Programme Director (Minerals) at NITI Aayog. He was speaking at the 15th India Minerals & Metals Forum organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi on Wednesday.

 

 

Lahiri pointed to advances in recovering rare earth elements from fly ash, citing the work being undertaken by NLC India as an example of the opportunities available from industrial waste streams. Business Standard reported last month that NLC India is planning to award India's first pilot project for extracting rare earth elements from fly ash within two months.

 

Separately, NITI Aayog is undertaking a similar exercise on recovering critical minerals through urban mining, including electronic waste and spent batteries. Lahiri said a separate committee is mapping the entire value chain—from collection and transportation to processing, recovery costs and revenue streams—to identify where policy support or incentives may be required. Based on the assessment, the think tank will prepare an implementable action plan for the Ministry of Mines.

 

Lahiri noted that recycling and recovery of critical minerals from secondary sources would remain important as India's domestic critical mineral production would take time to develop. While several critical mineral blocks have already been auctioned, most remain at the preliminary exploration stage and will require further geological work before mining can commence, he added.

 

On overseas mineral assets, Lahiri said India is pursuing opportunities in countries such as Australia, Argentina and the United States. However, many resource-rich nations permit mining while restricting exports of raw ore, requiring value addition within their own jurisdictions before exports to India. "What can be the policy engagement with these countries is also being explored by the Ministry of Mines," he said.