At a time when the country?s copper production is reaching stagnation, MECL?s copper mining lease (ML) in Singhana block, Jhunjhunu distict of Rajasthan has not been cleared since 2004.
The proposal of grant of mining lease has been cleared by forest department. The area under consideration includes 70.86 hectares f grazing land for which the request was made to revenue department, the government of Rajasthan for grant of NOC.
District collector, Jhunjhunu, observed that the said area falls under the restricted category, hence grant of NOC is not feasible.
Now MECL has once againg requested that as the mining activity would be carried out at a depth (+100m), it would not have any adverse effect on the restricted area and NOC may be issued. The District collector, however, reiterated that grant f NOC is not feasible The company has now provided additional clarification and information to the state government to acquire the ML.
Copper mining in the country has taken a back seat. Most of the Reconnaissance Permits and Prospecting license in the country is increasingly inclined towards iron ore mining.
India contributes to about 3.5%-4% of the world?s total production of copper that sums up to a figure of 6 lakh tons. India imports copper ores from the ore exporting countries of the world and extract copper out of them as there is a shortage of copper mines in the country. The production of copper in India is dependent on these imports. Three companies in India largely handle production of copper from its ore are Birla copper, Sterlite Industries and Hindustan Copper Ltd.