Chhattisgarh may opt or manual mining in Naxal infested areas
Nagpur-based Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited (JNIL) has been granted clearances for mining in restive Kanker district of Chhattisgarh but on the condition of manualmining.
JNIL will produce 1 million tonne of iron ore per annum. The iron ore mined will be used as a captive source of raw material for the integrated iron plant at Raipur — about 200 kms.
The cost in manual mining is about three times the cost of using mechanised explosives. But for the sensitive areas of Chhattisgarh, it is likely to be the way forward.
"In the sensitive areas where there were possibilities of looting explosive, manual mining will be preferred," Devendra Singh, Member Secretary of ChhattisgarhEnvironment Conservation Board (CECB), said.
Naxalites are known for their expertise in explosion. Maximum casualties inflicted on security personnel earlier were in landmine blasts. The explosions used for mining in deposits located in Naxal-infested pockets had been the soft target of rebels.
Explosives stocked by the miners is an important source for Naxals. Besides storming the magazine, rebels had been intercepting the explosive-laden vehicles and looting materials that they later use for making landmine and bombs. The rebels also demand explosives from the company and a denial would only invite wrath.
The fear of Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) looting explosives has propelled authorities inChhattisgarh to opt for manual mining without blast in the red zone.
Public hearing for environment clearance was held on October 5 amidst heavy security arrangement as the pocket is considered as a stronghold of rebels.
According to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, considering the scale of operation, geological setting and the nature of deposit, it is proposed to adopt manual to semi-mechanised method of opencast mining.
"The company will not use explosive for blast as it has not been permitted," S K Moitra, Director of JNIL, said. The mining would be done manually, he added.
The group, primarily engaged in Iron and Steel Industry since 1972, had applied for the mininglease in Metabodeli Iron Ore Deposit spread across 25 hectares in Pakhanjur block of Kanker district.
Even though the cost in manual mining is much higher, it would still make economic sense for the company to agree to the condition.
The cost of production in manual mining is Rs 350 a tonne. But the price of iron ore fines is around Rs 1,700 a tonne.
For the government too, it's a strategy that could help combat Naxalism. "It would help engage more and more villagers from local area in mining activities that would result in the socio-economic development," Singh said.
Villagers getting employment would get distanced from the rebels and the backing of villagers is the spine of the Naxal movement.
MENACE IN MINES:
** In February 2006 Naxalites raided the magazine of state-own mining company NMDC in Dantewada district and walked away with 20 tonnes of explosives after killing eight Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) personnel.
** In March, 2008 Naxal guerillas raided Mahamaya mining facility of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in Dallirajhara of Chhattisgarh's Durg district and looted about two tonnes of explosives.
** In May, 2010 Naxals hijacked a truck carrying 16.5 tonnes of high-grade ammonium nitrate explosive near Bhanpuri in Bastar. The consignment was on its way here from Visakhapatnam formining operation.
** In March 2016 Naxals struck at the mine of Sharda Energy and Minerals Limited in Rajnandgaon district and shot dead its Manager. The incident resulted in the closure of about 12 iron-ore mines in the area.
Australia: Surging coal prices to boost economic growth, prop up interest rates
Surging coal prices are set to shower Australia in cash, erase its trade deficit, jumpstart nominal economic growth and, perhaps, mark the end of a five-year campaign of interest rate cuts by the central bank. Prices for Australia’s second-biggest export earner have been on a tear since July and are now finally feeding into contracts between miners and their customers.
Reports this week suggest Japanese steel makers have agreed to double the price of coking coal for the fourth quarter to $200 a tonne. That would be a transformation from the first quarter of the year when the mineral fetched just $81.
In just the past three months spot prices for thermal coal have climbed 40 percent, while coking coal is up 130 percent. That is a boon for Australia where coal accounts for a tenth of exports at around A$2.8 billion ($2.12 billion) every month.
“The price spike, if sustained, could potentially be large enough to wipe out the country’s overall trade deficit by itself,” said George Tharenou, an economist at UBS. The trade shortfall stood at A$2 billion in August when the surge in prices had yet to be fully felt.
That would be heaven sent for a mining sector that was considered down and out just a few months ago. Just this week, Glencore said it would hire more than 200 workers at its Collinsville coal mine amid resurgent Asian demand. The desperately needed boost to profits should shore up investment, dividends and wages, while gifting the Coalition government with a welcome tax windfall.
And it is not just coal. Prices for the country’s single biggest export earner, iron ore, currently sit at $56.60 a tonne compared to a trough last December of $37. Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas, another major earner, are up over 50 percent from lows touched in April.
Australia has more than $180 billion of LNG projects coming online which would make it the world’s top exporter. Analysts at ANZ estimate the rise in coal alone could lift annual growth in nominal gross domestic product from the current recession-like 3 percent to a far healthier 5 percent.
All of which is likely what Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe had in mind last month when he foreshadowed a lasting turnaround in Australia’s terms of trade after a half decade of decline. And it is a major reason why UBS thinks the RBA is done cutting rates after easing to a record low of 1.5 percent in August.
“There’s going to be a noticeable improvement in the terms of trade and nominal GDP growth,” said Tharenou. “The economy simply doesn’t need more stimulus.”
http://indianexpress.com/article/business/world-market/australia-surging-coal-prices-to-boost-economic-growth-prop-up-interest-rates-3078191/
Bharat Aluminium Company withdraws HC case against coal ministry
Vedanta group firm Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) has withdrawn its court case in the Delhi High Court against the coal ministry's decision rejecting the company's winning bid for a coal block in Chhattisgarh. The government had in March last year rejected bids for three coal blocks — one by Balco and two by Jindal Power Ltd—citing low prices and handed over the mines to state-run Coal India. The companies had moved the Delhi High Court, which had reserved its order on the issue.
But a coal ministry official on Wednesday said Balco has withdrawn the case. Balco did not respond to an email sent by ET seeking comments. The coal ministry had last Wednesday won four cases related to coal auctions with the Delhi High Court pronouncing orders against Monnet Ispat & Energy, Jayaswal Neco Industries, Bhushan Power & Steel and Utkal Coal.
The judgments for all cases related to coal auctions were reserved for over a year. The ministry had rejected price bids for Gare Palma IV/I for which Balco had emerged the successful bidder and Gare Palma IV/2&3 and Tara coal blocks won by Jindal Power, saying they were low in comparison to other mines, while the companies said that no two coal blocks were similar.
Balco had in its petition in the Delhi High Court said that the coal block was required for the company’s 600 MW captive power plant attached to its 3 lakh tonne per annum aluminium plant entailing a total investment of Rs 7,000 crore.
It said that delay in awarding the mine was resulting in production loss of 16,438 tonne per day, leading to a revenue loss of Rs 2.85 crore per day to the firm. The company had also said that mining of the block will yield revenue of Rs 950 crore annually to the government as againstRs 60 crore if the mines were handed over to Coal India. Balco had in its plea said the coal in the Gare Palma IV/1 mine was of inferior quality than that mentioned in the bid documents.
It had also said that the block received less value as it did not have any coal evacuation system. It also cited that the winning company for the block would have to take a host of regulatory approvals to mine fresh patches of the Gare Palma IV/1block.
The coal ministry had argued that the gross calorific value of the coal in the mine is accurate as it is based on data made available by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute. It has also junked the firm’s other two arguments . Balco had submitted best bid of price of Rs 1,585 per tonne for Gare Palma IV/1, while Hindalco bagged a mine for the steel sector in the same Gare Palma stretch at Rs 3,502 per tonne and another at Gare Palma IV/4 at Rs 3,001.
Similarly, Jindal Power submittedRs 108 per tonne price for Gare Palma IV/2&3 coal block while foregoing the mining cost. The Tara coal block received a price of Rs 126 per tonne, while other mines received higher value from other companies.
Mines surveillance system will soon be extended to public
Mines in India will soon open to public scrutiny with the government deciding to extend the mines surveillance system to the general public, a move that will allow the common man to play the whistleblower against illegal mining.
All mines in the country will be digitised for real-time monitoring through a dashboard and mobile application, Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar told ET. The dashboard and mobile application will be able to spot unauthorised mining activities on a real-time basis, sending triggers to the concerned officials in the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and state governments.
"The mines surveillance system (MSS) will also be extended to the general public who can reach out to authorities highlighting unusual mining activities around mines. This will go a long way to curb unauthorised mining activities in the country," Kumar said. The mobile application will also enable state government officials to file site verifications reports to higher authorities online.
The MSS has already been put in place and 1,710 working major mineral mines have been plotted on the system. The government has so far received 296 triggers generated through the software from Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. The triggers are studied at a remote sensing control centre of IBM and transmitted to the concerned district officers for onsite verification, Kumar said.
During the pilot run of MSS, the mines ministry had received 13 triggers, of which three were found to be related to unauthorised mining.
Over the next three months, the surveillance system will be extended to all the 3,843 mining leases issued by the state governments. A similar system will be put in place for minor mineral mines like those of sand and mica, which often suffer rampant illegal mining.
The monitoring software has been developed by the mines ministry in collaboration with the Gujarat-based Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics. This followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call in September last year to use space-based technologies to check illegal mining.
Under the system, a digitised revenue map of each mine will be superimposed on its global positioning system (GPS)-enabled mining plan.
This will help the mines ministry in collecting satellite images of all blocks every month and detect illegal activities within 500 metre of the earmarked boundaries of the mines.
Warm Regards
Anurag Singal
Sr. Manager-Business Development
EMIL, Aditya Birla Group
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