Cement Energy and Environment

minerals like limestone and sand in ~;tates like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. We will ask states to quantify losses due to ill,egal mine activities and explain their positions to us," Kumar said. Rampant illegal mining in Karnataka and Goa led to mining bans by the Supreme Court in 2011and 2012. Sand mining in Uttar Pradesh has been a cause of concern for state and central governments. The mines ministry started pilot monitoring projects about four months ago in collaboration with the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Gee-informatics for 400 mines in Gujarat, extending these later to four mines each in other states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in September last year urged use of space-based technologies to curb illegal mining. Kumar said in the next three month~; all 4,000- odd mines with major minerals such a1s bauxite, copper, manganese, nickel and zinc will be mapped by satellites for monitoring. Under this process, digitised revenue maps of each mine will be superimposed on their respective GPS (Global Positioning System) enabled mining plans. This is expected to help the minE!S ministry collect satellite images of all blocks every month and detect illegal activities within 500 metres of the earmarked boundaries of the mines. The Indian Bureau of Mines, which promotes scientific development of mineral resources, will be the nodal agency to implement th•:J satellite monitoring measures. Kumar said the bureau will set up a control room for regular monitoring and detection of illegal mining. So far, satellite services have been used to estimate presence of minerals in an area. Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, has also begun electronic fencing of its mines and fitting GPS tracking devices on its trucks transporting coal from pitheads to curb pilferage. The state-run coal monopoly expects to finish the task by the end of this month. Courtesy: The Economic Times, New Delhi 12.04.2016 ADOPT SUSTAINABLE MINING PRACTICES: PRESIDENT The exploitation of natural resources should be undertaken keeping in mind the threat of natural and manmade disasters, President Pranab Mukherjee today said as he underlined that mankind's sustenance depends on the adoption of environmentally sustainable mining practices. "We cannot imagine our worl d today without the use of natural resources. Availability and use of minerals in any country have been factors determining self-sufficiency of its economy," he said. "At the same time, we must understand that sustenance of mankind depends only on environmentally sustainable mining practices," he said at the National Geoscience Awards-2014 event here. Natural resources have to be explored , extracted, refined and processed for use in national building , Mukherjee said, adding , however, that "our effort to use our natural resources should be informed by the dangers of natural and manmade disasters". He told scientists at the function that they "have the responsibility to create greater awareness about the importance of conservation and sustainability". The President said the exploration of mineral resources in the country requires a "greater thrust and an even greater caution". "As the search for the near-surface deposits have reached a point of saturation , geoscientists in the country now face the crucial challenge of finding deep-seated and concealed mineral resources," he said. There is a need to focus on exploration of offshore mineral resources which hold enormous potential for supplementing the increasing needs of the country, he said. Courtesy: FIMI News Bulletin, Volume XLIX, 01.05.2016, Pg. No. 20, From Internet FIMI HOLDS TALKS ON SCIENTIFIC MINING Cost of business should be given due importance just as ease of doing business and unless costs are competitor investor will not come; delay in auction of mines largely due to incomplete data furnished by states, sustainable and scientific mining were issued raised and discussed at summit organized by FIMI on 11 1h May 2016. Emerging markets play a significant role in global 68