Supreme court lifted ban from 18 A grade mines in Chitradurga and Bellary region on condition that mines will produce some percentage of their actual capacity.
Of the 18 Category A mines allowed, only Mineral Enterprises Limited (MEL) had secured all statutory approvals. It restarted mining at its Chitradurga mine and had to suspend operations on October 6, following the expiry of its lease period. It has extracted about 35,000 tonne in one month.
Apart from MEL, another five leases are waiting for final approvals in the state. They include: R Praveen Chandra, Mysore Minerals Limited (MML), Nadeem Minerals, Tiffin Barytes Asbestos and Paints Ltd and VESCO. These leases together are allowed to produce 2.56 million tonne per annum as per the new mining plan approved by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), according to Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) officials, that are helping in preparing the Reclamation and Rehabilitation (R&R) plans.
Category B mines will take more time to get approvals as they have to first submit a R&R plan to a committee appointed by supreme court along with a hefty compensation.Sources say it will take time to actually get all approvals.
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