Coal news and updates

Mineral production index down 3% y-o-y in Jan

March 31: The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of January 2015 stood at 135.3 (new Series 2004-05=100), down 2.8% as compared to January 2014, according to an official release.

The cumulative growth for the period April– January, 2014-15 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 1.3%.

The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during January 2015 was Rs 20,524 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at Rs 7,938 crore (39%) followed by petroleum (crude) Rs 5,794 crore, iron ore Rs 2,500 crore, natural gas (utilised) Rs 2,302 crore, lignite Rs 542 crore and limestone Rs 452 crore.

These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in January 2015.

Production level of important minerals in January 2015 were thus: Coal 58.1 million tons(mt) , lignite 4.6 mt, natural gas (utilized) 2,784 million cu. m., petroleum (crude) 3.2 mt, bauxite 2.111 mt, chromite 1.97 mt , copper conc. 7,000, gold 147 kg., iron ore 11.0 mt, lead conc. 17,000 tons, manganese ore 169,000 tons, zinc conc. 149,000 tons, apatite & phosphorite 110,000, dolomite 507,000 tons, limestone 24.8 mt, magnesite 20,000 tons and diamond 2,415 carat.

In January 2015, production of zinc conc. grew 23.9%, gold 12.2% magnesite 11.6%, lignite 3.2% and coal 1.8% over January 2014.

However, production of lead conc. fell 0.4%, diamond 2.1%, limestone and petroleum (crude) 2.2% each, natural gas (utilised) 6.6%, bauxite 17.4%, dolomite 21.0%, iron ore 24.3%, apatite & phosphorite  25.9%, manganese ore 27.6%, chromite 33% and copper conc  41.4% over January 2014.