Coal news and updates

Mineral production index up 1.4% y-o-y in February

April 25: The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for the month of February, 2014 stood at 126.3, up 1.4% compared to February 2013, according to new series (2004-05=100), said an official release from the Ministry of Mines.

The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic and minor minerals) in the country during January 2014 was at Rs 18,118 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at Rs 6,372 crore, followed by petroleum (crude) at Rs 5,354 crore, iron ore at Rs 2,762 crore, natural gas (utilised) at Rs 1,712 crore, limestone at Rs 386  crore and lignite at Rs 519 crore.

Production level of important minerals in January 2014 were thus: Coal 51.8 million tons (mt), lignite 4.0 mt, natural gas (utilised) 2675 million cu.m., petroleum (crude) 2.9 mt, bauxite 1.660 mt, chromite 0.321 mt, copper concentrate 11,000 tons, gold 158 kg, iron ore 13.0 mt, lead conc. 16,000 tons, manganese ore 0.242 mt, zinc conc. 0.940 mt, apatite & phosphorite 157,000 tons, dolomite 593,000 tons, limestone 23.1 mt, magnesite 13,000 tons and diamond 3,199 carat.

In February 2014, the output of iron ore increased by 27.9%, gold 23.4%, chromite 20.5% diamond 14.9%, copper conc 14.8%, bauxite 7.5%, manganese ore 1.8 and coal 0.8% over February 2013.

However, during the month, production of limestone and dolomite fell by 2.5% each, lead conc 3.7%, natural gas (utilised) 5.0%, lignite 5.2%, magnesite 17.7%, apatite & phosphorite 31.0%, and zinc conc 31.8% over February 2013.