India imports a number of minerals like phosphates, tungsten, potash, gold and platinum every year. Keeping the ever increasing demand in mind, the national mission II on natural resource management (NRM) of Geological Survey of India (GSI) will now take up exploration of these minerals on domestic front as one of the priority area besides looking for rare earth elements (REE).
Though the new deputy director general of NRM, Anjan Chatterjee who took charge on April 1 at the mission headquarters in Nagpur, has his priorities listed, he wants to continue with the conventional work of identifying the indicated, probable and proved deposits of different minerals.
Speaking to TOI, he said exploration of minerals with poor resource-cum-reserve base will the biggest priority of the mission. "Minerals like phosphate and potash used in fertilizers are always in short supply in imports. India is world's second biggest consumer and importer of potash. During good monsoons, the prices of these minerals shoot up and government has to subsidize it for farmers. So we really need to look for may be small but economically viable deposits," he said. Rajasthan has some known deposits but they are of very poor quality and need enrichment. This may require help from the Indian Bureau of Mines. Gold is another mineral which should be explored in newer areas.
Tungsten is one RRE mineral which has suddenly come in very high demand range due to use in electronic devices. But India has no known reserves of this mineral so far. So priority would also be given to explore the possibilities of its existence. It is also considered to be a strategic mineral as it is used in armour plating and bullet proofing of VVIP cars. It is also called as 'industrial diamond' as it is used to cut during drilling. Rajasthan had two tungsten mines but had to be abandoned as they became non viable. So besides importing, India needs to think of recycling it. "We should not only explore for minerals as raw materials but also manufacture their products and sell them outside the country as the developed world does rather than just exporting the raw material," said Chatterjee.
Similarly, Coal is being imported at a large scale. But looking at the ever increasing demand in the industry, coal should be explored once again with a different action plan which will minimize imports. Need-based minerals like cobalt and nickel should also be explored in ocean beds instead of conventional land deposits.
EXPLORATION PRIORITIES
MINERAL SECTOR
a) Delineate new target regions and take up exploration
b) Re-orient organisational methodology to undertake collaborative ventures with state or private agencies
c) Minimize imports and augment local deposits
d) Besides meeting targets, exceed drilling for explorations
e) Flexible working to allow explorations of need based minerals like cobalt and nickel
ENERGY SECTOR
a) Augment resource base of coal and lignite through regional exploration
b) Identify potential Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks for exploration and exploitation
d) Explore potential geological formations for geothermal energy resources
e) Conduct research on potential of gas hydrates
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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