Workshop on Enhancing Mineral Exploration Through NMET

Ministry of Mines, in collaboration with Geological Survey of India(GSI) and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL)has organized a workshop in Bhubaneshwar today on mineral exploration initiatives of the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) for the benefit of State Departments Mining & Geology and State Mineral Development Corporations of the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.

This was the fourth workshop of NMET on the subject “Enhancing Exploration through NMET” after similar workshops were held in Jaipur for Rajasthan and Gujarat, in Lucknow covering Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and in Bhopal covering Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

The workshop has provided a knowledge-sharing platform which is one of the objectives and it highlighted the role of State Directorates of Mining and Geology and Mining Corporations in enhancing exploration in the country through NMET funding. The States were requested to plan exploration activities in such a way to create considerable impact in the mineral sector. The States were further requested to utilize the services of Notified Exploration Agencies for the untapped mineral resources and the Ministry of Mines will extend all possible cooperation to State Governments.

NMET highlighted that despite India is endowed with rich mineral resourceswe are importing the same in huge quantities. The mineral requirement of the country is expected to increase with increase in the share of manufacturing sector. In order to meet the increased demand and to keep the import bill down, there is an urgent need to increase exploration activities, for which there is no scarcity of funds.Detailed presentations on NMET covering mineral exploration project formulation, approval and execution mechanism through NMET funding were made in the workshop. GSI made a presentation on potential areas for mineral exploration in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.

It was brought out that National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) has provided a huge opportunity to the State Governments to harness their mineral resources by undertaking exploration activities through Notified Exploration Agencies (NEA’s) and utilizing the NMET fund available for this purpose. State DGM’s and states PSU’s were requested to actively participate in exploration activities and submit exploration proposals for NMET funding. The workshop served as an idea sharing platform to enhance mineral exploration which is fundamental for the growth of the mining sector.

Shri Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Steel and Mines Department, Govt. of Odisha and Shri U. C. Joshi Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines presided over the workshop. Dr. RanjitRath, CMD, Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, Shri. Amit Saran, Director, Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India and Shri. Jaya Lal, HOD, Eastern Region, GSI, Shri. Janardha Prasad, ADG & Chairman, TCC,NMET along with other officials from the  Ministry of Mines, Geological Survey of India, MECL and CMPDIL were present during the workshop.