Mineral

New offshore-mining regulations allow lease surrender after 10 years

Under the new rules, offshore areas will be made available for mineral exploration and production only after being notified in the Official Gazette by the administering authority

EU set to choose company for critical minerals joint buying platform

EU's rationale for pooling together buying orders is that it would hand participants more leverage to achieve more favourable deals and prices for critical minerals essential for the green transition

New rail lines to put mineral transportation from C'garh on fast track

The Korba-Ambikapur rail line will connect two major cities known for having rich coal reserves

Mining corporation revamps decision-making to fast-track projects

The powers delegated to the CMD would now flow down following a pyramid structure of hierarchy

SC allows states to seek refund of royalties on minerals from Centre

The court ruled that the payment of these demands shall be staggered in instalments over a period of 12 years, commencing from April 1, 2026

Centre plans to expand area limits to boost critical minerals mining

Shift aims to address challenges associated with mining critical minerals

Govt to auction 21 critical mineral blocks across more than six states

India has been auctioning critical mineral blocks since November as part of efforts towards a clean energy transition

Maiden critical minerals block results likely to be announced on Monday

More than two dozen blocks will also be put on the bidding block in fourth blocks

Electoral bonds data: Metal, mining giants focus on home ground Odisha

For Vedanta, All India Congress emerged as the second most donated party at Rs 125 crore, followed by BJD at Rs 40 crore

JSW Group interested in acquiring critical mineral blocks: Chairman Jindal

Steel to Infrastructure JSW Group is interested in participating in auction of critical minerals, its Chairman Sajjan Jindal said on Wednesday. Jindal, who made the remarks at an event in Mumbai, said the move will help in backward integration of the group's plans for new energy vehicles. "We will certainly participate when the mining auction comes up," he said while replying to a question. The comments come a month after the JSW Group announced signing an agreement with the Odisha government to set up an integrated electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility in the state, entailing an investment of Rs 40,000 crore. Once completed, the project will mark JSW Group's foray into the automobile space. Union Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi has launched the second tranche of the auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks. The government also plans to launch the first tranche of offshore minerals auctions by June-July this year.

India, Brazil hold first '2+2' defence ministerial dialogue on tech, energy

India and Brazil on Thursday explored ways to expand cooperation in areas of energy, critical minerals, technology and counter-terrorism at their first '2+2' defence and foreign ministerial dialogue. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the talks spanned various key areas of cooperation. "Discussions spanned defence, space, energy, critical minerals, tech, counter-terrorism and regional, multilateral & other issues of mutual interest," he said on 'X'. The dialogue took place in Delhi. It was co-chaired by additional secretary in the external affairs ministry G V Srinivas and joint secretary in the defence ministry Vishwesh Negi. The Brazilian delegation was led by Director at Brazilian foreign ministry Marcelo Camara and Rear Admiral Fernando de Luca Marques de Oliviera.

India, US seek to bolster trade ties, work together on critical minerals

India's trade minister Piyush Goyal and Tai held their annual trade policy talks in New Delhi on Jan. 12. Tai is on a three-day visit to India

Mineral output index increases by 12.3% to 111.9 in August: Centre

India's mineral output increased by 12.3 per cent in the month of August as compared to the same month a year ago, the Centre on Monday said. The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for the month of August 2023 at 111.9, is 12.3 per cent higher as compared to the level in the month of August 2022, according to provisional data from the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). The cumulative growth for the April- August period over the corresponding period of the previous financial year is 8.3 per cent, the mines ministry said in a statement. In the month of August, the country's coal output was 684 lakh tonnes, lignite production was 28 lakh tonnes, bauxite was 14.28 lakh tonnes among others. Minerals like gold, phosphorite, manganese ore and iron ore showed positive growth. "Minerals showing negative growth include bauxite, zinc conc, lignite and lead.

Rs 82,000 cr collected under District Mineral Foundation till August: Govt

The mines ministry on Monday said Rs 82,370.79 crore has been collected under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) till August this year. DMF is a non-profit body working for people and areas affected by mining-related activities in such manner as may be prescribed by the state government. "The total amount of funds collected under DMF comes to Rs 82,370.79 crore and the amount utilised stands at Rs 45,150.21 crore (August)," the Ministry of Mines said. As of August, DMFs have been set up in 644 districts in 23 states/Union Territories, while 17 states/UTs have DMFs in each district, the ministry said. States and UTs that have DMFs in all district include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Jammu & Kashmir.

NMDC's iron ore production rises 11.42% to 3.51 mn tonnes in April

State-owned NMDC Ltd on Tuesday reported an 11.42 per cent rise in its iron ore production of 3.51 million tonne (MT) in April 2023. It produced 3.15 MT of iron ore in the same month last year, NMDC said in a BSE filing. Last month, the company's sales rose by around 10 per cent to 3.43 MT from 3.12 MT in April 2022. Besides iron ore, Hyderabad-based NMDC is also involved in the exploration of a wide range of minerals like copper, rock phosphate, limestone, dolomite and gypsum.

ED attaches assets worth Rs 5.21 cr of Mineral Enterprises Ltd under PMLA

The assets attached are in the form of six immovable properties owned by the accused persons, the official said

GMDC's Q2 net profit surges nearly four-fold to Rs 151 crore

State-owned GMDC on Tuesday reported nearly four-fold rise in its consolidated profit at Rs 151.2 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. The company had posted a consolidated profit of Rs 40.4 crore in the year-ago period, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) said in a filing to BSE. The consolidated income of the public sector enterprise increased to Rs 591.4 crore in the July-September period from Rs 494.7 crore in the year-ago quarter, the filing said. GMDC is country's second largest lignite producer.

Mineral block auctions to yield Rs 59,639 crore revenue

Auctions of mineral blocks have kicked off under the amended MMDR Act

States realised Rs 1,170 cr from illegal mining in four years

The amended MMDR Act provides for stringent punitive provisions for combating illegal mining

100 major mineral blocks to be auctioned in 2016-17: Narendra Singh Tomar

Notices for auction of 43 mines have already been issued