Events & Issues

New Delhi, 24 August 2011

Mining Sector

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY TECH CRUCIAL

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

The Supreme Court’s ban on mining in Bellary has set alarm bells in thousands of homes in Karnataka, wherein livelihood of over a lakh people is going to be affected directly or indirectly. Worse, due to the shortage of raw materials, jobs of workers in related-industrial units too face the axe. Is there a way out?    

The answer clearly lies in sustainable and environment-friendly mining. This has become imperative today. In various parts of the world, specially in Europe and more particularly in Germany, major research is being carried out to make mining environment friendly. Various universities and research organizations as well as companies’ R&D units are engaged in ensuring that the ecology of the area where mining operations are carried out is not disturbed.

It is important to note that there have been a series of deliberations starting with one at Aachen (in Germany) where universities, manufacturers and mining companies came together to meet the future challenges of developing long-term strategies and practical solutions in this regard. A host of conferences, including the Global Mining Summit in Kolkata, have been held where experts from countries such as Australia, Germany, US, Canada and India have deliberated on the future mining needs, specially of coal and iron ore, with rapid growth of power and steel requirements, specially in the Third World countries.   

Discussions have taken place all over the world in developing and shaping the mine of the future and research activities centred on the following aspects: development of a system of production and expansion of an underground mine;  development of optimized longwall roof supports for automated advance; determination of representative samples of respirable dust emissions to improve forecasting of pollution at open pit mines and raw materials handling and loading systems; development of an acoustic geo-scanner for detection of loose rock and boundary layers; and induction of systematic mineral processing technologies.

As is well known, the UPA Government has been strictly enforcing environmental rules and regulations, which obviously call for modernization as also use of sophisticated technology for mineral processing. Clean technology is undoubtedly the need of the day. Other than the steel sector, it is necessary to mention that appropriate technologies are needed for the coal sector from mining to transportation, energy distribution and the controlled utilization of abandoned coal mine space. Experts have pointed out that innovations such as automated longwall mining equipment, modern coal washing facilities to reduce waste transportation and coal gasifier can play a crucial role in controlling and checking pollution.

With emerging clean technologies, methane control and utilization is very significant as this remains the number one killer. Effective methane drainage can improve safety by reducing seepage and preventing the accumulation of explosive concentrations into the underground working environment. Already in India, German equipment (of Atlas Copco) is being used in West Bengal for the first time for coal bed methane capture (CBD) as a fuel to meet the country’s fast growing energy needs.

There are also plans for coal mine methane capture (CMM) through specially designed water ring vacuum pumps at the ground surface to draw CMM from underground boreholes via gas ranges. Similarly, abandoned coal mines can be a rich source of high quality methane (ACMM). It is understood that relatively few boreholes cab tap into large sealed reservoirs of methane, allowing extraction from gas vents, vent wells, gob wells or CMM wells.

Use of explosives for blasting purposes has been an old practice but this has to be done away with as the calorific value of the coal is reduced, contamination is caused and human settlements are disturbed. According to Wirtgen India, a 100 per cent German subsidiary, surface miners have been playing a crucial role in environmental sustainability whereby coal, limestone and many other minerals in open cast method need not use explosives. Unlike drilling and blasting, mining by cutting easily complies with the stricter requirements in terms of safety, vibrations dust and noise. In fact, R&D of the Wirtgen group has been operating from its office in Mysore where the entire design and planning is taken care of.

Beneficiation is another important aspect of mineral processing whereby the quality of the ore is improved. In fact, Coal India Ltd had announced the setting up of 20 new washeries to reduce the ash content of coal and make the quality equivalent to imported coal. Though nothing has been mentioned about adherence to forest/environmental laws, it is necessary that diversion of forest land for mining needs to be considered and cleared by the Forest Advisory Committee. 

Importantly, CDE Asia, an Irish subsidiary, has been specializing in this technology and implementing it in the eastern states of the country to improve the quality of the ore. Technology has also been brought by the company from German and Italian sources in the beneficiation process which is eco-friendly and lucrative. It is pertinent to mention that while beneficiation has to be given much attention in this age of environmental sustainability, it is also necessary to ensure that mining should not disturb human settlements in any way, either through pollution of air, soil or water sources.      

The mining industry all over the world as also in India is destined to grow at a fast pace. In our country, this sector has targeted to achieve Rs 416,500 crores by the year 2015. Both coal and iron ore mining is expected to lead the growth momentum as the Government has promised “power to all” in the next couple of years. As per industry reports, with more and more international players entering this sector and local companies ramping up production capacities, the Indian mining industry is also equipped to witness an investment over Rs 22,000 crores in the next five years.

There has been massive investment in mining in both China and India which has helped the country’s mining equipment suppliers to export sophisticated equipment to these countries. The increasing growth of the Indian mining sector, which is quite visible, would obviously require automation and induction of environment-friendly technologies that could check pollution. Moreover, the mining policy (Mines & Minerals Development and Regulation Bill 2010) which is meant to go into the question of emphasizing the need for environmental sustainability and exploring appropriate technologies would need to be seriously considered as the sector grows over time with increasing activity. ---INFA  

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