Coal news and updates

Mineral production index up 2.6% in August

October 21: The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for the month of August (new series 2004-05=100) 2014 was at 116.6, or 2.6% higher as compared to that in August 2013, an official release said.

The cumulative growth for the period April- August, 2014-15 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at (+) 2.5%, it added.

The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during August 2014 was Rs 17,264 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at Rs 5,508 crore (32%).

Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs 5,496 crore, iron ore Rs 2,467 crore, natural gas (utilized) Rs 2,187 crore, lignite Rs 414 crore and limestone Rs 396 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in August 2014.

Production level of important minerals in August 2014 were thus: coal 43.5  million tons (mt), lignite 3.5 mt, natural gas (utilized) 2645 million cu. m., petroleum (crude) 3.0 mt, bauxite 1.415 mt, chromite 69,000 tons, copper conc. 9,000 tons, gold 96 kg., iron ore 10.8 mt, lead conc. 15,000 tons, manganese ore 0.156 mt, zinc conc. 0.110 mt, apatite & phosphorite 0.110 mt, dolomite 0.535 mt, limestone 22.7 mt, magnesite 25000 tons and diamond 3676 carat.

The production of important minerals showing positive growth during August 2014 over August 2013 include ‘apatite and phosphorite’ (88.7%), ‘magnesite’ (77.9%), bauxite’ (29.6%), ‘lignite’ (19.6 %), ‘limestone’ (18.4 %), ‘coal’ (13.9), ‘iron ore’ (4.5%) and ‘manganese ore’ (2.6%).

The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘lead conc.’ (-1.0%, ‘diamond’ -3.5%, ‘petroleum (crude)’-4.9%, ‘dolomite’ -6.2%, ‘natural gas (utilized)’ -8.9%, zinc conc.’ -15.1%, ‘gold’ - 23.2%, ‘copper conc.’ -26.4% and ‘chromite’ -56.4%.