Page 19 - Mining Industry

Centre in talks with states for 'pre-embedded' clearance of mines

In a bid to provide ease of doing business to mining players, the Centre is in talks with five states for "pre-embedded clearances" of 21 mines, including those of iron ore, coal and lignite, mines secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said on Tuesday. The government is also in the process to enact the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, the senior ministry official said. The government is in talks with five states, including Odisha, Rajasthan and Gujarat, for pre-embedded clearance of 21 mines, Bharadwaj told PTI in response to a question about steps being taken for early operationalisation of auctioned mines. The miners will get pre-embedded clearances for various processes included in mining, like approval of the mining plan, forest clearances, environment clearances and other regulatory clearances, he said. "The move will help in early operationalisation of the mines. It takes 5 years (minimum) to make a mine operational. This will come to one-two months," he sai

Tata Steel signs business cooperation agreement with A&B Global Mining

Tata Steel on Thursday said it has signed an agreement with A&B Global Mining to harness new business development opportunities and deliver mine technical services. The steel major will closely work with ABGM India which will interface with their South African entity to explore business opportunities in India and abroad besides utilise each other's technical and strategic strengths to deliver projects across the mining and metals, including the steel value chain, a company statement said. ABGM will also collaborate with Tata Steel to deliver competitive integrated business solutions to the global mining industry, it said. "We started offering mine technical services commercially to the mining industry along with our partners, and this agreement will further complement our capabilities and capacities to raise the standards of such services in India in particular and internationally in general for more scientific and sustainable mine development, Tata Steel vice president (raw ...

Vedanta Resources cuts gross debt by $1 bn by paying its maturing loans

Vedanta Resources Limited (Vedanta), the parent company of Mumbai-listed mining giant Vedanta Ltd, on Monday said it has paid all its maturing loans and bonds due in this month to reduce its gross debt by a further USD 1 billion. Vedanta has now reduced debt by a total of USD 3 billion since it announced in February 2022 its intention to accelerate deleveraging. It had announced plans to reduce debt by USD 4 billion within 3 years. "Vedanta has thereby achieved 75 per cent of its committed reduction in just 14 months," the firm said in a statement. The firm's gross debt now stands at USD 6.8 billion, down from USD 7.8 billion at the end of March 2023 and from USD 9.7 billion at the end of March 2022. "During the balance of FY24, we believe that strong operational performance from our world class asset base coupled with robust commodity prices will lead to further deleveraging at Vedanta," the statement said.

Chhattisgarh earns record mineral revenue of Rs 12,941 cr in 2022-23

Chhattisgarh has earned record revenue of Rs 12,941 crore from minerals for the year 2022-23, a rise of Rs 636 crore from the previous fiscal, a state government official said on Sunday. Iron ore fetched the highest Rs 3,607 crore followed by Rs 3,336 crore from coal, while Danetwada was the top-earning district in terms of mineral revenue, a press release from the state government said. "Limestone and bauxite too fetched sizable revenue. Dantewada contributed Rs 6419 crore, followed by Korba Rs 2361 crore, Raigarh Rs 1717 crore, Balod Rs 760 crore, Baloda Bazar Rs 315 crore, Kanker Rs 286 crore and Surguja Rs 262 crore," an official said. "The state government has auctioned 29 mineral blocks in Chhattisgarh on revenue sharing mode, which in the coming years will fetch the state Rs 1 lakh crore," said Anurag Diwan, Joint Director, Geology and Mining. For the first time under the revenue sharing system, the state government was able to earn Rs 52.52 lakh by participating in two ...

State-owned Coal India eyes digital transformation of mining operations

State-owned CIL on Friday said it has conceptualised a mega digital transformation programme to "reimagine" its mining operations. The move will help achieve the target of 1 billion tonnes (BT) of coal production by FY26. The coal behemoth launched the 'Project Digicoal' and a 'Digital War-Room' to monitor and assist this project at its headquarter in Kolkata. This project will help Coal India's (CIL) mining operations become future ready using advanced digital solutions, the public-sector unit said in a statement. "With the launch, the project went live in seven coal mines of CIL encompassing Gevra, Dipka and Kusmunda mines in SECL and Nigahi, Jayant, Dudhichua and Khadia mines in NCL," it said. CIL has roped in Accenture as its consultant to design and implement the project. "Launch of 'Project Digicoal' is an important milestone of digitalisation in CIL. This project will help make the processes efficient," CIL Chairman Pramod Agrawal said while launching the project. "The pr

Western Australia to improve ties with India, focus on green tech: Minister

Australian state 'uniquely placed' to work with India for energy transition, says Stephen Dawson

Government successfully bids out 29 coal blocks for commercial mining

The ministry launched the auction of coal reserves for commercial mining in the sixth round and second attempt of fifth round on November 3, 2022

Technology enhances responsible mining

New technologies have already been deployed in various mining projects. Some coal companies use robot-assisted firefighting and dust suppression technology

Govt may auction six mineral blocks in February, to boost mining sector

The government is likely to put on sale six mineral blocks, including four iron ore mines, in the current month. The move would give a boost to mining sector's contribution to the country's gross domestic product. The four iron ore blocks, situated in Chhattisgarh, are likely to be auctioned on Tuesday, according to the mines ministry. The notice inviting tenders for the mines -- Chhitpuri B iron ore block, Gomter Wakeli, Bijapur, Hahaladdi, North Bastar Kanker, Lohhater, North Bastar Kanker -- were floated last year. The auction of Bandiamottu block in Andhra Pradesh, which has lead and associated minerals such as nickel, cobalt and copper, is also likely to be conducted in February. The notice inviting tender for the block was issued in December last year. Besides, the auction of Udagi Block -- a limestone mine in Karnataka -- has also been extended to be held in February, the ministry said. Since the new procedure for auctioning of mineral blocks was introduced in 2015, a t

Mines ministry in process of identifying mineral blocks in sea: Secretary

The government is in the process of identifying mineral blocks like nickel in the sea and would gradually put them on sale, mines secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said on Friday. The mines ministry is amending the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 and has sought the stakeholders' views on the same. "Because the critical minerals are becoming even more critical, there is this thought that why are we not mining in the oceans...Unfortunately we have not been able to mine the oceans. Now we are amending the Act. It is in public domain, open for comments for the industry, the stakeholders," the mines secretary said during Metal & Metallurgy Expo-2023 organised by CII. The ministry, he said, is in the process of identifying these blocks in the sea and as there are no stakes in there, the auction will be done by the government of India. "That will also be a huge opportunity for industry, a totally new area of operations," he explained. Critical minerals such as ...

Mine over matter: Who will dig up India's new-found Lithium reserve?

The absence of an integrated mining policy for strategic metals and minerals and poor domestic capabilities could hinder exploitation of the recently discovered reserves

Equity investors remain bullish on metal and mining stocks, shows data

This has driven a wedge between companies' earnings and their market capitalisation

Mineral production goes up by 9.7% in Nov 2022: Indian Bureau of Mines

The country's mineral production rose by 9.7 per cent in November as compared to the year-ago period, the mines ministry said on Tuesday

Hindustan Zinc in top 3 sustainable companies in metal-mining sector

Hindustan Zinc Ranks Among the Top 3 Sustainable Companies Globally in Metal and Mining Sector

NMDC in talks to invest in lithium exploration companies in Australia

Investment would be voa NMDC's Perth-based arm, Legacy Iron Ore, which is already prospecting for iron ore, gold and base metals there

Mineral production increases by 4.6% during September: Ministry of Mines

The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector in September 2022 at 99.5 was 4.6% higher as compared to the level in March 2021

Indian miners seek higher import tax on aluminium, zinc, copper products

India is the world's third-biggest primary aluminium producer

AM Mining India completes acquisition of debt-ridden Uttam Galva Steels

AM Mining India Pvt Ltd, part of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel joint venture, completed the acquisition of Uttam Galva Steels Ltd, a downstream steel manufacturer in Maharashtra

Centre allows 13 private agencies to do mining exploration operations

With this, there are now a total of 22 private agencies which are engaged in mineral exploration

Mining & metal companies see reversal of fortune in September quarter

Profits down 91% in Q2, driven by margin contraction because sales realisation did not keep pace with rise in expenses