The Steel Ministry has pushed back the tentative date of re-starting commercial operations at the diamond mines at Panna in Madhya Pradesh to mid-November, subject to available clearances.
The mines are owned by NMDC Ltd, a CPSE under the Ministry.
Initially, there were plans to make the mines operational around July. However, factors like environment clearances, impact of mining operations on the prey base and tigers at Panna reserves, among other issues had to be considered.
Per an internal note of the Steel Ministry, accessed by businessline, the tentative date for receiving a No Objection Certificate (NoC) is mentioned as November 15, and production is to start on the same date.
Action Plan
Per a review document carried out by the Steel Ministry, clearances from the State wildlife department was received earlier in February, while it also carried out a study on the impact of mining activities on tiger movement in the reserve (report received in June).
Draft environment impact assessment report and response in relation to queries raised against the report have also been done. The public consultation period by the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board also ended in August 2023.
The review document of the Ministry mentions that EAC (Expert Appraisal Committee) was “deferred” from September 2023. The deferment happened for a variety of reasons that include getting one month fresh environment baseline data, awaiting of legal opinion, among other factors.
Panna diamond mines
The Diamond Mining Project at Majhgawan-Panna commenced production of diamond in 1971-72.
The mine is located at about 15 km from the Panna town and is the only mechanised diamond mine in the country. It includes an ore processing plant including heavy media separation unit, X-ray sorter for diamond separation and disposal system for tailings generated.
In FY21, the mines had achieved a production of 13,681 carats, while there was no production in FY22 and FY23, as per NMDC’s last annual report.
Diamond sales stood at 25,219 carats in FY22, and was valued at ₹62.93 crore per the FY23 annual report.
Previously, it was mentioned that remote sensing studies have been completed in Chhattarpur Panna Block 1, Chhattarpur Panna Block 2 and Damoh Block, Panna (5 Prospective Blocks) and Additional 12 Diamond Blocks. Around 3,882 meters of drilling completed in 5 blocks and balance drilling in revenue areas is under progress.
The FY23 annual report mentions that the Baloda – Belmundi diamond block has been reserved in favour of NMDC’s JV by the Ministry of Mines and permission has been sought to carry out prospecting work across 33 sq km of forest area.