A government panel has suggested resuming iron ore mining in
the Western Ghats in a bid to tap into 10 billion tonnes of ore
reserves in the region and to lighten the load on Karnataka.
Mining in the region had been stopped on environmental
grounds. The forested mountain range across the southern states and parts of
Maharasthra and Goa has been out of bounds since a Supreme Court order
to shut operations of Kudremukh Iron Ore in 2006 on environmental grounds. Its
hills are estimated to contain 10 billion tonnes of iron ore of the magnetite
variety that is easily upgraded for use in steelmaking.
The country's resources of the mineral are estimated at 28.5 billion tonnes,
with 17.9 billion being of the hematite kind that's currently being mined.
“Impact of the ban has been limited so far, as the domestic steel industry
is primarily based on hematite iron ore.
So, with the depleting high grade hematite iron ore
resources, exploitation of these magnetite resources may become necessary to
sustain the growth of the domestic steel industry in the long run,” says
the group chaired by Steel Secretary PK Misra in its sectoral report
for twelfth five-year plan.
Of the 10 billion tonnes magnetite iron ore in Western
Ghats, 8 billion tonnes are estimated to be within Karnataka. Tasked with
compiling a macro environmental impact assessment of Bellary for the apex
court, the Indian Council of Forestry Research suggested last month that
underground mining be considered in the Western Ghats.
However, the government may not approve the panel's recommendations as it is
likely to trigger a public backlash from environmental groups. India produced
about 208 MT of iron ore last financial year, a little less than half of which
was exported. During 2011-12 , it will require 115 MT of iron ore for the
projected production of 73.7 MT of crude steel.
Source: The Economic Times
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