Lok Sabha Question No. 4821 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-24
Subject: Survey to Explore Minerals
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4821

ANSWERED ON 24.03.2021

## SURVEY TO EXPLORE MINERALS

4821.  DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL: SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE: SHRI UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB PATIL: DR. HEENA GAVIT:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has conducted any survey testing to explore minerals in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  any  survey  testing  has  been  conducted  to  explore  minerals  in  Maharashtra; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof, district-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINES, COAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) & (b): Geological Survey of India, an attached office of Ministry of Mines, takes up different  stages  of  mineral  exploration  viz.  reconnaissance  surveys  (G4),  preliminary exploration (G3) and general exploration (G2) following the guidelines of United Nations Framework  Classification  (UNFC)  and  Mineral  Evidence  and  Mineral  Content  Rules (MEMC-2015), as per approved annual Field Season Programme [FSP], for augmenting mineral resource.  Exploration is carried out by GSI for various mineral commodities like Iron  ore,  Manganese,  Chromite,  Gold,  PGE,  Base  metals,  REE  &  RM,  Molybdenum, Nickel, Tungsten, Lithium, Vanadium, Limestone, Bauxite, Graphite, Potash, Gypsum, Phosphorite etc. and energy minerals like Coal, Lignite.

GSI is carrying out 191 nos. mineral exploration projects during the FSP 2020-21 in different parts of the country and the state-wise project details are given in Annexure.

- (c) & (d): In Maharashtra, GSI has taken up 9 nos.  mineral & coal exploration projects during the FSP 2020-21 and the district-wise project details are as follows:

|   Sl. No. | District                                | Mineral block / belt / area             | Commodity                                          | Stage   |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|---------|
|         1 | Amgaon, Nagpur, Bhandara and Chandrapur | Amgaon, Nagpur, Bhandara and Chandrapur | Base metal                                         | G4      |
|         2 | Bhandara                                | Pipra-Mahegaon-Dongarla                 | Rare Earth Element (REE), Rare Metal (RM)          | G3      |
|         3 | Gondia                                  | Palasgaon- Murdoli                      | Base metal                                         | G4      |
|         4 | Sindhudurg                              | Niguda-Nhavell                          | Nickel, Chromium & Platinum Group of element (PGE) | G4      |
|         5 | Sindhudurg                              | Banda-Tambuli                           | nickel, chromium, vanadium and PGE                 | G4      |
|         6 | Sindhudurg                              | Kunkeshwar                              | Bauxite                                            | G4      |
|         7 | Chandrapur                              | Shirpur-Motegaon                        | Copper                                             | G4      |
|         8 | Nagpur                                  | Chorbaoli - Murda                       | Tungsten                                           | G4      |
|         9 | Yavatmal                                | Wardha Valley Coalfields                | Coal                                               | G4      |

## State wise details of mineral exploration programmes taken up by GSI during FSP 2020-21

## A. Non Energy Minerals:

| State             |   No. of Projects | Commodity                                                                                                                                         |
|-------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Assam             |                 3 | Molybdenum, gold, REE                                                                                                                             |
| Meghalaya         |                 5 | Tungsten, Rare Earth Element (REE), Regional Mineral Targetting (RMT)                                                                             |
| Arunachal Pradesh |                 8 | Graphite & vanadium, gold, vanadium, gold & vanadium, REE & associated precious &basemetals                                                       |
| Nagaland          |                 1 | Nickel-chromium & Platinum Group of element (PGE)                                                                                                 |
| Sikkim            |                 1 | Graphite & base metal                                                                                                                             |
| Manipur           |                 1 | Nickel-copper & PGE                                                                                                                               |
| Chhattisgarh      |                 5 | Bauxite, basemetal, graphite, diamond                                                                                                             |
| Maharashtra       |                 8 | Basemetal, REE & Rare Metal (RM), nickel-chromium & PGE, nickel- chromium-vanadium & PGE, bauxite, copper, tungsten                               |
| Madhya Pradesh    |                15 | Basemetal, copper, potash, barite &basemetal, scandium & lithium, phosphorite, nickel-chromium & PGE, laterite-bauxite, gold, graphite & REE, RMT |
| Haryana           |                 1 | RMT                                                                                                                                               |
| Himachal Pradesh  |                 1 | Phosphorite                                                                                                                                       |
| Uttar Pradesh     |                 4 | Bauxite, gold, basemetal, RMT                                                                                                                     |
| Uttarakhand       |                 2 | Tungsten & tin, REE & RM                                                                                                                          |
| Jammu and Kashmir |                 2 | Graphite, bauxite-REE & lithium                                                                                                                   |
| Punjab            |                 1 | Potash                                                                                                                                            |
| Andhra Pradesh    |                13 | Copper, diamond, manganese, gold, tungsten, baryte, molybdenum, lead & zinc                                                                       |
| Karnataka         |                13 | Gold, nickel-copper-cobalt & PGE, copper-gold & REE, chromium-nickel & copper, nickel-PGE & gold, PGE, copper & gold, RMT                         |
| Telangana         |                 3 | Basemetal, REE, chromite & PGE                                                                                                                    |
| Tamil Nadu        |                 1 | Molybdenum                                                                                                                                        |
| Kerala            |                 3 | REE & RM, REE, bauxite                                                                                                                            |
| Jharkhand         |                12 | Tungsten, gold, copper & gold, manganese, lithium & caesium, REE & RM, bauxite & associated minerals, RMT                                         |
| Odisha            |                13 | Iron & manganese, iron, manganese, copper                                                                                                         |
| Bihar             |                 6 | Gold, REE, REE & RM, lithium-REE & RM,                                                                                                            |
| West Bengal       |                 6 | Tungsten-tin-REE-basemetal& gold, manganese, basemetal, gold, REE                                                                                 |
| Rajasthan         |                39 | Basemetal, copper, copper & gold, gold &basemetal, iron, REE & RM, potash, REE, manganese, manganese & phosphorite, tungsten & lithium, RMT, R&D  |
| Gujarat           |                 4 | REE & RM, strategic minerals & RM, basemetal                                                                                                      |
| Total             |               171 |                                                                                                                                                   |

## B. Energy Minerals (Coal & Lignite):

| State          |   No. of Projects | Commodity   |
|----------------|-------------------|-------------|
| Rajasthan      |                 1 | Lignite     |
| Tamil Nadu     |                 2 | Lignite     |
| Telangana      |                 2 | Coal        |
| Chhattisgarh   |                 2 | Coal        |
| Madhya Pradesh |                 3 | Coal        |
| Maharashtra    |                 1 | Coal        |
| Bihar          |                 2 | Coal        |
| Odisha         |                 5 | Coal        |
| Jharkhand      |                 1 | Coal        |
| West Bengal    |                 1 | Coal        |
| Total          |                20 |             |