Status of Minerals:

India produces 89 minerals produced in the country, 4 are fuel minerals, 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic and 22 minor minerals. In 2000-2001, the total value of mineral production other than petroleum and natural gas was Rs 306751 million and including them it was Rs 568070 million.

India is the largest producer of mica blocks and mica splittings. It ranks third in the production of coal and lignite, barytes and chromite. It is 4th in iron ore, 6th in bauxite and manganese ore, 10th in aluminium and 11th in crude steel. Limestone, magnesite, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite and phosphorite, steatite and fluorite account for more than 90 percent of non-metallic minerals. The entire metallic production includes Iron-ore, copper-ore, chromite and or zinc concentrates, gold, manganese ore, bauxite, lead concentrates, and silver.

Environmental Status of Mining:

The 1993 national mineral policy addresses in passing among other things the issue of adverse effects of mining to the environment in general and recycling of metallic scrap and mineral waste in particular. The policy also mentions admission of foreign technology and foreign participation in exploration and mining for high value and scarce minerals. The mining companies are notorious for their concentration on making profits sans any plan for pre-mining and post mining sustainable development.
There has not been a comprehensive assessment of recycling and storage of dumps. Most of the mines do not make any concerted effort to conserve original topsoil. There has always a need to ensure that overburden and waste dumps are maintained below a 45 degree slope and keeping it away from locations where they can be destabilised by winds, rains and earth quakes. All dumps must be provided with ponds to collect liquid run offs and recycling systems in the operational mines.

Mining and ore-benificiation along with asbestos and asbestos based industries are one of the 64-industries/industrial activities identified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as heavily polluting industries, which classified as “ Red Category” industries on the basis of their emissions/discharges of high and having significant polluting potential or generating hazardous waste and which is covered under the Central Action Plan.


Important Minerals in India
S.No. Mineral/Ore/Metal Recoverable reserves as on 1.1.1985 Depletion during 1985-97 Recoverable Reserves as on 1.1.1997 Projected production during 1996-97 Balance life at 1996-97 level of production
. . (m.tonnes) (m.tonnes) (m.tonnes) (m.tonnes) (years)++
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Crude oil (as on1.1.91) 993.00 230.00 763.00 50.00 15
2 Natural Gas (B.Cu.M.) (as on 1.4.90) 858.00 161.00 697.00 30.00 23
3 Coal (as on 1.1.91) . . . . .
I Coking 8507.00 201.00 8306.00 39.00 213
II Non Coking 60346.00 1397.00 58949.00 269.00 219
4 Bauxite 2333.00 80.00 2253.00 8.00 282
5 Copper metal (as on 31.3.88) 3.95 0.43 3.52 0.06 64
6 Lead metal (as on 1.1.89) 1.93 0.56 1.37 0.10 14
7 Zinc metal (as on 1.1.89) 7.00 1.10 5.90 0.15 38
8 Gold (as on 1.1.89) 103000.00 16727.00 86273.00 1850.00 47
9 Iron ore 10440.00 686.00 9754.00 72.00 135
10 Chromite Ore 139.00 15.00 124.00 2.40 52
11 Magnesite 222.00 6.70 215.30 0.73 295
12 Manganese Ore 83.17 17.65 65.52 1.80 36
13 Limestone 69353.00 876.00 68477.00 101.00 678
14 Rock Phosphate High grade 14.78 8.79 5.99 0.72 8
15 Sillimanite
I Masslve 0.50 0.35 54.25 0.017 3191
II Beach sand 54.10
16 Kyanite 1.55 0.51 1.04 0.06 19
17 Dolomite (Usable Grade) 4608.00 32.00 4576.00 3.20 1430

What is Mine Waste?

Whenever mining is done, it generally implies digging to reach the source of the mineral. The entire operation brings out all sorts of unwanted materials which is nothing but waste. Rubble, which remains after minerals have largely been extracted, is also a waste. Also at end of the processing of the minerals there is toxic waste generation. Mining operations of all kind produce waste. Since India produces 89 minerals, these result in diverse kinds of potentially hazardous waste.

If we take the case of manganese ore to product and ore to waste ratio-for an average grade of 30 percent the ore to overburden ratio is that for every 13 million tones for ore mined 9 million tones must be disposed of as waste. Similarly, according to Sridhar of mines, minerals and People-for every 5 gram of gold produced there is 1 tonne waste produced, for every 20 percent of coal produced there is 80 percent waste generation and for 12-14 gram of copper 1 tonne of waste is being generated in Malanjkhand copper field, Madhya Pradesh.

How is Mine Waste produced? In general, there are four ways in which mine waste is produced:
1. Overburden-the soil and rock that must be removed to gain access to a mineral resource.
2. Waste rock-rock that does not contain enough mineral to be of economic interest
3. Tailings- are finely ground host rock from which the desired minerals have largely been extracted. The residue takes the form of slurry of ground-up ore that remains after minerals have been largely extracted.
4. Heap leach spent ore-Here the crushed ore is placed on a membrane-lined pad and irrigated with the appropriate reagent. For instance, sulphuric acid in the case of copper or uranium the rock remaining in a heap leach facility after the ore has been extracted.

How to manage it?

Its management requires consideration of the geological characteristics of the area in question, topography and its hydrology. There is also a need to consult local communities at the time of planning and enforcing any waste disposal mechanism at the outset of the operations and even afterwards. The logic of managing mine waste without life cycle assessment is compelling but these too should begin with communities. What needs to be worked out is mining industry specific solutions and reuse and recycling of materials in order to deal with the waste problem which is taking a heavy toll on our top soil. The necessity of having mining and processing industry in proximity is very important. Mine wastes are occasionally seen as a resource and are considered for road construction and building materials. Our Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation has undertaken the work of using mineral waste to make composite materials. The health and environmental impact of these materials are highly suspect. There are attempts being made by Indian Institute of Science to use microbes, which can eat heavy metals in Hutti mines, near Kolar in Karnataka to manage mineral waste. Mangrove forests are also being used to neutralise leaching of heavy metals containing wastes.

Consequences of Minerals Waste:

Most of the mining waste is dumped on land but there are companies, which discharge waste rock or tailings in the sea and in some cases even in the river system. This is ecologically disastrous. The most widespread problem associated with waste dumps is acid drainage, which can have serious impact on the productivity of the ecosystems. “Leaching of heavy metals and its impact in communities is a huge problem”. Although scientists believe that no impermeable sheeting is impermeable enough, dumps which are susceptible to acid drainage require permanent impermeable sheeting. Acid drainage persists in the environment and has serious impact on surface and groundwater and aquatic life. It can lead to alarming reduction in our Natural Capital. Once the process of acid generation starts, it is difficult to stop it. The combination of acidity and dissolved toxic contaminants kills almost all forms of aquatic life. This renders water from the streams unfit for human consumption. Even the science, which can predict such occurrence, is imperfect since it has only probable answers. This issue is dealt largely away form the publics view, as they are deemed too technical for them to understand in the conventional manner where regulatory process is disguised in jargons and is kept non-transparent. In all these cases the benefits are immediately visible and the costs are remotely manifest.

References:
Department of Mines, 2002, Government of India
National Mineral Policy, Union Ministry of Mines
Basic Principles of mines, minerals and People, 1999
Roger Moody, Passage through India, Nostromo Research, London
Scavenger, July-September, 2002, Society for Clean Environment
Ministry of Steel and Mines, Government of India,  http://www.indiacore.com/mining.html
Sridhar, December 2002, mines, minerals and People, personal communication
Breaking New Ground, 2002, an international report on the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development
Roger Moody, Director, December 2002, Nostromo Research, London, personal communication
V.T. Padmanabhan, December 2002, mines, minerals and People, personal communication
Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation
Roger Moody, Director, December 2002, Nostromo Research, London, personal communication
Sridhar, December 2002, mines, minerals and People, personal communication
Roger Moody, Director, December 2002, Nostromo Research, London, personal communication
Roger Moody, Director, December 2002, Nostromo Research, London, personal communication
Breaking New Ground, 2002, an international report on the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development