CIL team touring Australia

Indian coal mining companies led by the public sector coal giant Coal India Limited (CIL) are currently scouting for partners in Australia in the sphere of underground (UG) and open cast (OCP) intensive mining.

Coal beneficiation is another avenue which is also being looked into by the Indian companies for tie-ups with Australian conglomerates.

A coal mining delegation comprising 44 Indian mining companies and equipment manufacturers, facilitated by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and led by the CIL chairman Partha Bhattacharya is currently in Australia looking out for technology and working out possible tie-ups on strategies adopted in that country for development of large UG mines and OCPs.

Speaking to Business Standard from Australia, Bhattacharya said, "It is a process of sensitising. While we would be showcasing our potential in Australia, on the other hand we would also be looking for their technology for future advancement".

Australia currently produces 421 million tons of coal and is almost at par with India having capacity of 431 million tons.

Three large mines with capacities ranging from 5 million ton in the UG category to 15 million in the OCPs have already been identified in Australia.

The mines are - Mount Arthur OCP controlled by BHP Billiton with a capacity of 15 million tons, Mount Owen at Extrata having capacities of 11 million tons and GrassTree UG mine at Anglo with a capacity of 5 million tons. India till date does not have UG mine of more than 1 million tons.

There are about 350 UG mines in India, of which estimates suggest 85-90 per cent are unremunerative. CIL's need for development of UG mines prompts from the fact that a huge coal reserve across the country are in 300 metre"�plus coal beds.

It is only through UG technology that these beds can be reached. India currently has 235 billion tons of coal reserves of which 95 billion tons is proven.

Recently Singareni Coal has floated a tender for developing a 2 million ton UG mine.

Coal India recently decided on developing four large virgin UG mines located in the Eastern Coalfields (ECL), Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) and Western Coalfields (WCL).

This is part of CIL's latest strategy on improving production of UG mines from the present 45 million tons to 75 million tons within the next couple of years.

CIL has already instructed its subsidiaries to work out ways on increasing UG production by setting up new mines in that category with capacities of 2-5 million tons.

The greenfield UG mines identified for immediate development are Tilaboni and Madhujor in ECL area, Jagannath in MCL fields and Morpar in the WCL.

Global tenders would shortly be floated for the development of the mines.