Mine Waste as Resource: Indian Mining Scenario of Coal and Non Coal Mining Sector

Abstract

Mother Nature has bestowed India with huge resources of coal, iron ore, bauxite, manganese and limestone. India has one of the lowest per capita availability of land due to population of more than 1.3 billion. The transformation from under developed to developed economy warrants enormous increase in mineral production. This will generate additional huge quantities of waste. The industry is already facing problems related to land acquisition and environmental clearances. Sustainable development of Indian mineral industry requires reprocessing, reuse and recycling of mine waste. To achieve this, economic and innovative mineral processing methods are required which will result in least damage to ecology and environment.