2 months ago
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The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has plans to prosecute astir 300 projects for exploration of captious minerals successful the upcoming tract season, said Director General Asit Saha.
“We volition beryllium expanding the fig of captious mineral exploration projects from 236 successful the existent tract play to 300 successful the adjacent tract season,” helium told The Hindu in an exclusive interview.
“We person already formulated plans for them and volition commencement the projects truly soon,” helium added.
Mr. Saha said that astir 125 to 150 of these projects were for exploration of uncommon earths.
The Director General further noted that the outlook reinforced GSI’s momentum to outdo the stipulated people of pursuing 1,200 exploration projects for captious minerals earlier the FY 2030-31 deadline nether the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM).
Between tract play 2020-21 and 2025-26, the Kolkata-headquartered explorer had completed 858 projects for exploration of captious minerals.
Notwithstanding the preponed attainment, Mr. Saha maintained, “We volition not halt there, we volition proceed to summation the fig of projects due to the fact that the thought is to springiness arsenic galore probable captious blocks for auction arsenic possible.”
Essential to note, the fig does not see copper which is classified arsenic a captious mineral. Mr. Saha informed that GSI would besides beryllium separately doing astir 50-60 much projects for copper during the 2026-27 tract season.
The Director General said that alongside exploration it is indispensable to spur midstream processing arsenic well, which is transforming captious minerals contiguous successful ores for end-use concern usability.
“Rare earths are disposable not lone successful formation sand, but besides inland and/or wrong rocks, similar carbonatite oregon different alkali rocks,” Mr. Saha said, adding, “It is determination [in the mentioned forms] successful Assam, Gujarat’s Ambadongar which is precise celebrated and Rajasthan’s Sivana. These are places wherever ample deposits of uncommon earths are present.”
To a query astir the imaginable for lithium successful India and astir the deficiency of takers for mining successful reserves discovered successful Jammu & Kashmir, Mr. Saha observed that mining some lithium and nickel successful India necessitate an “altogether antithetic strategy”.
Responding to a query astir imaginable overseas exploration being undertaken by GSI, Mr. Saha informed they are exploring the feasibility of a tract successful Zambia for copper.
