B Krishna Mohan / Chennai/ Hyderabad August 26, 2008, 3:00 IST

The state may strike it rich if the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) succeeds in its efforts in evolving a process for exploring fullerenes, commonly known as C-60 and associated with barytes, from the mines at Mangampeta in Kadapa district.

The product is used for defence purposes and makes solar cells more efficient. Besides, it can make missiles invisible to radars.

Bs Reporter / New Delhi August 19, 2008, 0:13 IST

Rio Tinto, the London-based mining group, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NMDC, the largest mining company in India, to form an equal joint venture to explore minerals in India and abroad.

Interview with R.S. Pandey, Union Secretary for Steel.

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

R.S. PANDEY:

Bellary's mining magnates hogged the headlines during the recent Karnataka polls for their successful foray into politics. In Madhya Pradesh though, the script reads out in reverse.

Here, politicians have joined the gold rush and acquired vast interests in mining across the state. The consequences of this mad scramble for a piece of the mining pie have been disastrous for the environment.

Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai July 23, 2008, 0:01 IST
The dragon country has cut output by 72 per cent to control pollution before the Games.

With China cutting output to avoid emission of hazardous gases before the Olympics scheduled for next month, prices of metallurgical coke (met coke), an important ingredient for manufacture of steel and pig iron, have trebled in the last six months.

GREEN GUARD

# Met coke makes up about 60 per cent of the raw material cost of pig iron making and 50 per cent of steel making

# It is now quoted at $875 a tonne from $300 about six months ago

To jointly develop iron ore mining in Sumatra

BANGALORE: The GJR Group, with mining interests in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, has signed an agreement with PT Earthstone Resources of Indonesia, engaged in large scale mineral exploration and mining in Africa and Asia.

G. Janardhan Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, told reporters here on Monday that the partnership would lead to GJR investing $30 million to acquire a 50 per cent stake in a 438 hectare iron ore mining area in Sumatra, Indonesia, to be developed jointly with Earthstone.

The Saharan duststorms help sustain life over large regions of the North Atlantic Ocean, according to a latest study.

Liverpool University researchers found that plants are able to grow in these regions because of their ability to take advantage of iron minerals in Saharan duststorms.

This allows them to use organic or recycled material from dead or decaying plants when nutrients such as phosphorous, which is an essential component of DNA in the ocean are low.

NWFP Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan said here on Friday that provincial government was working on a broad-based strategy to take full advantage of water resources of Chitral for benefits of people. Talking to journalists after offering fateha for the departed soul of IUCN NWFP Head, Shazada Shujaur Rehman who died the other day.