- Coal India signs MoU for mineral development
- Projects focus on rare earth extraction from coal waste
Coal India Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Madhya Pradesh state mining corporation for exploration and development of critical minerals in the state.
The agreement between the two was announced at the Madhya Pradesh Mining Conclave 2.0, held in Katni, Madhya Pradesh. Singrauli.
Aligning itself with India’s mission to secure minerals critical to the country’s clean energy transition targets, Coal India announced its foray into critical minerals earlier this year, and has successfully participated in auction bids. It is also looking at assets abroad as well as retrieving critical minerals from mining waste.
The national coal miner has undertaken three R&D projects related to rare earth elements (REE) found in coal mine waste, Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, told Parliament on 28 July 28. The first, in the north-eastern region found total REE to be low, but heavy REE to be relatively high.
A second project, appraising Trace Elements & REE concentration in the Singrauli coalfield, found REE levels to be “promising” (with an enrichment of ≈250 ppm on a whole coal basis in coal samples and ~400 ppm in non-coal samples). Economic feasibility of its extraction was however yet to be determined.
Coal India’s MoU with the Madhya Pradesh government is a step forward with regard to its second project in the Singrauli coalfield. The third Coal India project is the development of indigenous technology for extraction of critical minerals, from overlying strata of north-eastern coalfields.
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