National Mineral Policy 2006 - Department of Mines

MineralCopperConcentrate (tonnes)ZincConcentrate (tonnes)LeadConcentrate(tonnes)Table 4.2: Non-captive Production in Large-scale and SME SectorNoncaptiveproductionLarge-scaleproduction % of totalproductionNil 146,966 100 17(5)Nil 581,136 100 12(6)Leases(As on 31 March2004)No. Area (ha) productiSME% of totalon production10,589.86 Nil Nil8221.35 Nil NilNil 71,274 Nil Nil Nil Nil NilNickel Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil NilGold ore Nil 608,230 100 9 6683.12 Nil Nil(tonnes)(3)Diamond 78,315 Nil Nil 2 576.51 78,315 100(carats)(2)Iron ore(‘000tonnes)91,693 72,420 60 474(270)79,041.71 49,120 40Bauxite(‘000tonnes)Limestone(‘000tonnes)2924 7905 73 266(191)11,485 145,440 93 1411(571)24,592.93 2924 27106,260.41 11,485 7Note: 1. IBM provides area only for number of leases and not for operating mines.Also, IBM does not give leased area data separately for captive, non-captive, and large-scale and smallscalemines.2. Number of operative mines in 2004–05 is given in brackets.3. Number of mines is common for lead and zinc.4. Area is in hectares.Source: IBM, Nagpur.4.8 The infrastructure needs of the SME sector operations are different mainly becausetheir scale of operation does not permit miners to put up their own infrastructure. Therefore,SME sector mines usually tend to come up where some form of public infrastructure alreadyexists. Since existing roads and railways are already overburdened, the needs of mining aredifficult to satisfy and have to be met at the expense of other users. Where more than oneSME sector operation comes up the existing infrastructure is put under strain. Mineralextraction activity could in such circumstances damage the infrastructure through excessiveuse, depriving other users for whom the infrastructure was created in the first place. It is99