18 mining firms get SC nod, but 1 eligible

Nearly 12 mines have to get various statutory approvals, including reclamation plan

The Supreme Court has given a nod to 18 iron ore mines to resume operations in Karnataka, but only one of them fulfills the conditions required to start the operations.

As many as 12 mines have to get various statutory approvals, including rehabilitation and reclamation plan, forest and environment clearances and permission from the Departments of Mines at the State and the Centre. The process could take at least a month and in some cases one year, depending on the licences required to resume mining.

However, five mines will not be able to resume operations as cases were pending against them in various courts. The apex court, while allowing conditional permission for resumption of mining, said all the 18 mines in Bellary (16 leases) and Chitradurga (2 leases) districts come under Category A and only 6.96 million tonne of ore can be extracted every year.

The Minerals Enterprises Limited, with 103.81 hectare lease area in Bellary district, is eligible for extracting ore since it has all the statutory approvals. However, only 0.38 million tonne ore can be extracted every year from here. 

Two other mines in Chitradurga district, R Praveen Chandra (42.6 hectare) and Vesco (51 hectare) can resume mining operations in one month, if they obtain statutory approvals.

Five Mines in Bellary district-B Kumara Gowda (54.23 hectare), Nadeem Minerals ( 53.20 hectare), Tiffins Bairaits Asbestos and Paints Limited (191.13 hectare) Zenith Exports (50 hectare) and Sri Gavi Siddeshwara Minerals (134 hectare)-may require two months to get necessary sanctions. SMIORE-I (1863.02 hectare) and SIMROE-II (142.02 hectare) may begin mining in the next three months, while Shantipriya (80.97 hectare) will require six months to get clearances.

Gadagi Minerals Mining (50.29 hectare) can start operations in one year, while Allaum Prashanth (69.64 hectare) said it is not keen on obtaining the approvals.

RBSSN-I (31.56 hectare), RBSSN-II (76.97 hectare), Kariganur Minerals (199.43 hectare), MML Thimmappanagudi (136.97 hectare) and RMML Dalmia ( 331.14 hectare) have cases pending against them. They are not eligible to resume mining operations, even after getting permission.