On 6 December 2006, the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Mineral Resources and Primary Industries established an Independent Expert Panel to undertake an inquiry into the impacts of underground coal mining on natural features in the Southern Coalfield.

Question Govt Capacity To Monitor Implementation Of New Norms Ruhi Kandhari NEW DELHI EXPERTS have denounced the draft notification on environment standards for iron ore mining that allows more than two times the suspended particulate matter emission in mining area as compared to what is allowed in an industrial area. The text, which will be finalised after receiving public comments, is silent on the issue of waste management in mines.

the recently held elections in Karnataka paved the way for several mine owners to the state assembly. Some of them who belong to Bellary district have even got key ministerial berths such as the revenue ministry and the ministry of tourism and infrastructure development.

Javier Blas & Rebecca Bream Baosteel agrees to pay a record price increase to Rio Tinto for delivery of iron ore next year. Baosteel, China's leading steelmaker, agreed on Monday to the largest ever annual increase in iron ore prices with Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian miner, in a move that is likely to reinforce fears about global inflation.

'MAULIK PATHAK Ahmedabad, 18 June Gujarat's Saurasthtra region seems to be turning into a hotbed of illegal bauxite exports. ' Senior officials in the Commisionerate of Geology and Mining Department fear that 10.5-11 million tonnes bauxite worth Rs 1,200 crore was illegally exported from the region in 2007-08 fiscal. On Wednesday, a team from Gandhinagar begun seizing bauxite at Okha port. "About 30,000 tonnes bauxite has been seized from the area today," said a department official. The operation is still on and this is only the tip of the iceberg, say officials.

Anil Agarwal will tell you that he likes all his metals

A new analysis of ancient minerals called zircons suggests that earth's earliest continents were probably destroyed by an extremely harsh climate. Zircons, the oldest known materials on earth, offer a window in time back as far as 4.4 billion years ago, when the planet was a mere 150 million years old. As these crystals are exceptionally resistant to chemical changes, they have become the gold standard for determining the age of ancient rocks, ScienceDaily reported.

India needs to diverse its mineral export basket and intensify exploration activity with a suitable incentive framework to attract private sectors foreign investments, says a study by Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank). According to the study titled Exploration holds the key for Growth in India Mineral Sector, the growth momentum in the Indian minerals sector arising out of an increasing worldwide demand could be sustained through a comprehensive exploration policy to unearth the largely unexplored mineral wealth of the country.

The Russian government is proposing to abolish the mineral extraction tax for depleted oilfields to revive oil output growth, which has flagged because of the levy, Igor Sechin, the deputy prime minister, said yesterday. "The government is considering a zero tax regime for depleted oilfields, and tax breaks for young fields," Mr Sechin told a shareholders' meeting of the state-controlled oil group Rosneft. Mr Sechin was voted in for another term as Rosneft chairman yesterday. Reuters, Moscow

Country's mining industry is projected to touch over $30 billion (about Rs 1,27,662 crore) accounting for about 2.5% of the GDP in the next four years, a latest report said. "Considering India's mineral resources, we believe there is strong potential for further development and scaling up of the country's mining industry.

Pages