Coal news and updates

Mineral production index down 0.4% y-o-y in March

May 20: The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for the month of March, 2014 stood at 145.8, down 0.4% compared to March 2013, according to a new series (2004-05=100), said an official release from the Ministry of Mines.

On a cumulative basis, mineral production in 2013-14 dropped 0.8% over 2012-13.

The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic and minor minerals) in the country during March, 2014 was at Rs 21,232 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at Rs 8,325 crore, followed by petroleum (crude) at Rs 5,795 crore, iron ore at Rs 3,024 crore, natural gas (utilised) at Rs 1,789 crore, limestone at Rs 427 crore and lignite at Rs 624 crore.

The production level of important minerals in March 2014 were thus: Coal 65.4 million tons (mt), lignite 4.9 mt, natural gas (utilised) 2,795 million cu.m., petroleum (crude) 3.2 mt, bauxite 1.707 mt, chromite 0.461 mt, copper concentrate 11,000 tons, gold 246 kg, iron ore 14.6 mt, lead conc. 18,000 tons, manganese ore 0.259 mt, zinc conc. 0.122 mt, apatite & phosphorite 173,000 tons, dolomite 642,000 tons, limestone 22.5 mt, magnesite 17,000 tons and diamond 5,118 carat.

In March 2014, the output of gold increased 82.2%, iron ore 23.0%, chromite 18.5% diamond 16.1%, lead conc 0.6% and coal 0.5% over March 2013.

However, during the month, production of dolomite fell by 0.1%, manganese ore 1.4%, petroleum crude 1.6%, limestone 3.2%, bauxite 7.8%, natural gas (utilized) 10.2%, lignite 10.3%, copper conc. 12.9%, magnesite 16.6% and zinc conc. 24.2% over March 2013.