EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT Indian Minerals Yearbook 2013 (Part- I: GENERAL REVIEWS) 52nd Edition EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT (FINAL RELEASE) GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES INDIAN BUREAU OF MINES Indira Bhavan, Civil Lines, NAGPUR – 440 001 PHONE/FAX NO. (0712) 2565471 PBX : (0712) 2562649, 2560544, 2560648 E-MAIL : [email protected] Website: www.ibm.gov.in September, 2015 4-1 EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT 4 Exploration & Development GOVERNMENT’S POLICY concession holders will be monitored. he National Mineral Policy, 2008 for non-fuel Lock-in arrangement will be assured and Tand non-coal minerals, introduced by the the data will be released to prospectors Government in replacement of the National Mineral after integration. Policy 1993 lay enormous thrust on the various * Prospecting being a high-risk venture, aspects of mineral industry, such as regulation of access to risk funds from capital markets minerals, role of State in mineral development, will be facilitated. survey and exploration, database of mineral resources and tenements, strategy of mineral This policy initiative is expected to encourage development, etc. Among other things, strong greater involvement of private sector in survey emphasis is laid on the following: and exploration of minerals. * To judiciously exploit and utilise the The High-Level Committee constituted by the country's mineral potentialities, Government of India which brought out the systematic regional and detailed National Mineral Policy, 2008 has recommended exploration will be carried out using state- amendments to the MMDR Act, 1957 with the of-the-art techniques in a time bound purpose of providing necessary initiatives to manner. Zero-waste mining will be the attract investment and participation of private national goal and mining technology will and public sectors in areas of exploration be upgraded to ensure exploration and and exploitation of minerals. In a latest utilisation of entire run-of-the-mine. development, MMDR Bill, 2011 has been introduced in Lok Sabha on 12.12.2011, which has * To make regulatory environment been referred to Standing Committee on Coal th conducive to private investment, & Steel. The Committee submitted its 36 Report procedures for grant of mineral on the MMDR Bill on 07.05.2013. concessions, such as Reconnaissance Permits, Prospecting Licences and Mining Leases shall be transparent and seamless ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED with security of tenure guaranteed. GSI, DGMs of various states, public sector Prospecting and mining shall be companies like NMDC, MECL, MOIL, etc. recognised as independent activities with continued their efforts in respect of surveying, transferability of concessions playing a mapping and exploration of new deposits and re- key role in mineral development. assessment of old deposits/mines during 2012-13. * To attract large investments and high In oil sector, ONGC, OIL and a few joint technology, a new concession, namely, venture and private companies were engaged in Large Area Prospecting Licence (LAPL) exploration of onshore and offshore areas. will be introduced. Duration of all concessions will be rationalised and IBM areas of operations enlarged suitably IBM, as a facilitator to the Mineral Industry, within each State. (a) provides technical consultancy services for * IBM will maintain a digitised database conducting feasibility studies, environment comprising a Resource Inventory and a impact assessments, environment management Tenement Registry. The Tenement plans, etc; (b) carries out mining research project Registry will give information of leasehold on need-based aspects of mining; (c) conducts and freehold areas in terms of greenfield, mineral beneficiation studies, including brownfield and relinquished areas, etc. mineralogical testing and chemical analysis and Data filing will be rigorously applied and (d) prepares mineral maps. 4-2 EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT During 2012-13, IBM prepared 100 multi- Survey mineral leasehold maps with forest overlays on Marine Survey 1:50,000 scale in respect of Karnataka and Odisha. GSI continued its offshore geoscientific Forest overlays are prepared in collaboration with studies both in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Forest Survey of India. and Territorial Waters (TW) along the East and During 2012-13, IBM conducted 59 ore West Coasts of India. Survey in the near-shore dressing investigations, chemical analysis in zones (0 m - 10 m isobaths) were carried out using respect of 42,771 radicals, 2,509 mineralogical hired small mechanical boats. studies and 09 in-plant study. During 2012-13, a total of twenty two cruises Indian Bureau of Mines undertakes were undertaken using three vessels. preparation of National Inventory of mineral The following marine geoscientific surveys resources on a quinquennial basis. Under this were carried out during 2012-13 Field Season: programme, implementation of UNFC system was adopted in 2002 replacing the earlier resource 1. Six cruises aboard R.V. Samudra Manthan classification based on Indian system. within EEZ conducted the following: Subsequently, NMI as on 1.4.2005 was updated. a) Multibeam bathymetric survey of the Updation of the NMI of mineral resources in continental slope off Visakhapatnam, Andhra respect of 70 minerals based on UNFC system as Pradesh coast (SM-224). on 1.4.2010 has also been completed in March, 2012. b) Studies of geomorphological configuration of the "Swatch-of-No-Ground" in Upper Bengal Fan (SM-225). GSI GSI pursued its systematic geological c) Study of the seabed morphology and magnetic mapping in 2012-13 and had completed 4,917 sq anomaly pattern across the arc-trench gap off km large-scale mapping, 45.43 sq km detailed West of Tarasa Dwip, Nicobar Group of Islands mapping and 70,007 m drilling as against (SM-226). preceding year's achievement of 1,880 sq km large- d) Multibeam bathymetric survey to the south of scale mapping, 45.105 sq km detailed mapping and Central Andaman Trough on the Sewell Rise. 63,097m drilling. Out of the total mappable areas (SM-227). of 3.146 million sq km of the country, 3.096 million sq km has been covered so far by systematic e) Multibeam bathymetric survey in the mapping bringing the total coverage to 98.42%. continental slope off Marmagao, Goa (SM-228). f) Multibeam bathymetric survey in the Reserves Established continental slope off Veraval, Gujarat (SM-229). Reserves/resources established in the course of mineral exploration during 2012-13 are furnished 2. Nine cruises aboard R.V.Samudra Kaustubh below: within the Territorial Waters (TW) off the East coast conducted: i) About 3,172 million tonnes resources of coal in various coalfields of Andhra Pradesh, a) Parametric (magnetic & seismic) survey within Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, TW off Pentakota, Andhra Pradesh coast Odisha and West Bengal were estimated. (ST-221). ii) A total resources of 484 million tonnes of b) Placer mineral resource evaluation in the TW lignite were estimated in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu off North of Bhimunipatnam, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. (ST-222). iii) In Umphyriuh block, Jaintia Hills district, c) Study of the seabed morphology in the inner to Meghalaya, an inferred resource (333) of limestone mid-continental shelf off Rushikulya river mouth, were estimated at 389.68 million tonnes. Odisha (ST-223). 4-3 EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT d) Parametric surveys in shelf between Devi river Airborne survey operations could not be mouth and Mahanadi river mouth, Odisha taken up over western offshore of India (Vengurla- (ST-223A). Jamnagar) during 2012-13 as there was delay in e) Geotechnical appraisal off Chilka lake, Odisha getting the DGCA certification. The GSI aircraft (ST-224). has underwent upgradation in Avionics configuration and the aircraft could not be placed f) Parametric surveys between Kushabhadra and for survey operation before March, 2013, as such Prachi river mouths off Odisha coast (ST-225). multi-sensor data could not be acquired during g) Placer mineral resource appraisal in TW off Puri, 2012-13. Odisha (ST-226). Since the acquisition and induction of h) Geotechnical appraisal off Palar river mouth, TOASS, a total of 495,062 line km over an area of Tamil Nadu Coast (ST-227). 294,045 sq km was covered by multi-sensor survey i) Mapping of sea bed within TW, North East of involving magnetic, spectrometric, radiometric Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu (ST-228). and electromagnetic methods till the field season 2010-12, in the following areas: Mamandur (Tamil 3. Seven cruises aboard R.V. Samudra Nadu), Aladahalli, Gadag, Wajrakarur-Vedavathi Shaudhikama within the TW off the West Coast basin (Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), Agartala- conducted: Silchar (for ONGC in Tripura and Assam), Ratnagiri a) Seismic survey in the area off Bharathapuzha (Maharashtra), Siliguri-Guwahati (for ONGC in to identify and delineate the paleo channels West Bengal and Assam), Tosham-Singhana (SD-241). (Haryana and Rajasthan), Sukinda-Baripada b) Mapping of the seabed off Okha, Gujarat (Odisha), Bundi-Bharatpur (Rajasthan), Agucha- (SD-242). Malpura-Chaksu (Rajasthan), Moradabad -Bareilly (for OIL in Uttar Pradesh), Gorakhpur-Muzaffarpur c) Swath bathymetry off Okha, Gujarat (SD-243). (for OIL in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar), d) Multibeam bathymetric survey of part of Gulf Satyamangalam (Tamil Nadu), Hindoli (Rajasthan), of Kachchh off Nova Tapu (SD-244). Bhilwara (Rajasthan), Gangapur-Nasirabad e) Swath bathymetric survey of part of Gulf of (Rajasthan), Chhattisgarh basin (Chhattisgarh Cambay off Valsad, Gujarat (SD-245). and Odisha),