Category: Mining

NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand forest development corporation will organize regular medical camps at localities near Faila and other rivers in Kumaon division where mining workers stay during the season.

Over 10,000 workers, mostly migrant labourers from UP and Bihar, will get medical check ups and will be provided free medicines.

MPS Rawat, regional manager of the forest development corporation, said, “Camps will be organized at 11 gates of Gaula river on the weekend. We will encourage workers to get free check ups.”

The department provides the workers with safety kits which include gloves, masks, boots, ropes, a torch and various equipment to prevent injuries and diseases while mining river beds. The forest department also insures workers against accidents or physical injuries for up to Rs 1 lakh.

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Courtesy: The Times of India

At least three laborers lost their lives and two were injured after being buried under soil while conducting an illegal mining in Kosi river in Uttarakhand’s Bazpur. Earlier, the Uttarakhand High Court directed the government to put an end to illegal mining in the Kosi river, however, there have been constant reports of such activities being conducted on the banks of the river.

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Courtesy: The Times of India

THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Punjab government and Mohali police on a plea seeking directions to halt the alleged extensive illegal mining being carried out at Salempur Khurd and Siana Majra villages. The plea alleged the mining was being done in “collusion and connivance with the authorities”, including Mohali’s mining officer.

The plea filed by a resident of Mohali alleged that sarpanch of Salempur Khurd along with his associates has been doing illegal mining in the villages in about 100 acres of land and “are excavating minerals like sand, clay, earth, gravel, gataka, without any permission from the concerned authorities, and in violation of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the Punjab Minor Mineral Rules, 2013”.

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Courtesy: The Indian Express

Tata Power on Friday said it has won a mining license in Far East Russia and it aims to deploy the coal mined for its Mundra, Trombay power plants in India. In the release, the company added, it will also look to export to Far East Asian markets.

The company in its statement to BSE said its Russian subsidiary Far Eastern Natural Resources LLC, has been awarded the mining license of a thermal coal mine in Kamchatka province in Far East Russia. The subsidiary was awarded the license for $4.7 million in an auction process.

“The coal mine has high-quality thermal coal reserves of over 380 million tonnes, which the company aims to deploy for its facilities in Mundra and Trombay, as also sell in Far East Asian markets,” the company said in its statement. The company added it will carry out a detailed exploration to formulate a plan and work out a capex plan to implement the project in a phased manner to reach a stable throughput of 8-10 million tonnes per annum.

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Courtesy: Business Standard

An Australian mine owned by the global trading firm Glencore mistakenly dumped 63 truckloads of dangerous waste material in the wrong place, where it combusted and sent sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.

The scale of the incident, which occurred at the remote McArthur river zinc-lead mine in Australia’s north, was kept out of the public eye. The Northern Territory government ordered an investigation but refuses to release any details, claiming no report exists because the findings were delivered verbally.

The 63 truckloads of reactive rock – known as potentially acid-forming (PAF) rock – were never removed. Observers have expressed concern that even with the remedial work since carried out by the company, the approaching monsoons could cause another chemical reaction.

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Courtesy: The Guardian