Survey finds clues on diamonds in MP

Five kimberlite pipes are supposed to have the gem.

Clues about the presence of diamonds have been found in five of the 15 new kimberlite pipes discovered during surveys by private firms in Panna and Chhatarpur districts of Madhya Pradesh.

Enthused by the discovery, the state government was in the process of issuing prospecting lease to the companies for diamonds in the districts, mining department sources said.

The state government had issued reconnaissance permit to Rio Tinto Exploration Ltd, which has claimed to have found important clues about diamonds in kimberlite pipes discovered in Panna and Chhatarpur, they said.

Around 7,000 kimberlite pipes are known to exist across the world, of which only 100 carry diamonds, sources said.

Diamond mining has been carried out in the state at the Majhganva mines of Panna district since 1958. Small lease-holders have also been involved in extracting the precious stone from shallow mines in Panna and Satna districts of the state, which contains the entire 1.33 million carats of diamond reserve of the country.

Stepping up activities in the mining sector, the state government had issued over 30 reconnaissance permits to national and international companies for diamond, gold, silver, nickel, platinum and zinc, among other precious metals.

The surveys have yielded good results as reserves of gold and nickel have been found in Sidhi, gold in Katni, gold and copper in Shahdol and platinum in Betul, sources said.

The companies were also carrying out surveys for the metal in Tikamgarh, Guna, Datia, Shivpuri, Gwalior and Rewa district of the state and were hopeful of getting good results, sources said.

In a bid to meet the energy demands of the state, government has also allowed four companies to explore possibilities of coal-bed methane in Shahdol, Anuppur and Chhindwara districts.

The state has also received a proposal for country's first coal gassification and liquification project, which was being seriously considered, they added.

While survey for minerals was conducted on 10.432 square km area in 2006-07, 7,616 hectare land was dug up for lime stone, dolomite and coal during the period, mining department sources said adding, large reserves of high-quality dolomite was found during a survey in the Dewas district and 91,349 tonnes of calcite was found in Jhabua district.

Survey work for coal was in progress in Raj Nagar and Govind areas of Anuppur district, while the process of preparing a mineral table was over in Jabalpur, Satna, Ujjain and Morena districts.