Inaugural Address at the 19th World Mining Congress & Expo 2003

VISION FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY

I am delighted to participate in the inauguration of the 19th World Mining Congress and Expo 2003. I congratulate all the members of the mining community around the world for contributing to the enrichment of the world through industrial development. Mining has provided the answer to the manufacturing and energy needs of the humanity in the past century. Coal has been a major contributor in providing energy security during this period. It is possible that this pattern may change and there could be emphasis on uranium and thorium based power plants during the later part of the 21st century in addition to the emphasis on renewable energy sources. I was thinking about what I should share with this enlightened audience, which will make an impact on the future mining scenario. I consider, it is the most appropriate time for us to have a ?Vision for the Mining Industry?.

Collaborative venture

As far as India is concerned, 80% of our mining is in coal and the balance 20% is in various metals and other raw materials such as gold, copper, iron, lead, bauxite, zinc and uranium. In spite of the economic liberalization of 1991 the mining sector has not attracted major investments. This is possibly due to the problems such as land acquisition, development of infrastructure, transportation system, social engineering and community development involved in major green field site projects. There is a need to re-look at the total management solution for attracting investment in new mines. The solution has to lead to the creation of joint venture institutions with central government, state government and private sector as partners. The facilitation for the project through provision of land, infrastructural development, community development etc, can be done by the government agencies whereas the investment in the mine and the associated technological inputs can come from the private sector. In addition, the private sector must have the freedom to run the mine in a cost effective manner. This may be a long term solution for our future mines in the country and it will have unique opportunities for both the government and private sector to work together for the national development.

Investment in R & D

India is a global player in coal mining and is the third largest producer of coal though the productivity in underground mining requires a quantum jump from 0.5 ton per man-year to 3 tons per man-year in the immediate near term. In addition, we have to work on clean coal technology to prevent the global warming and environmental pollution effects. For a long time we have been talking about integrated gasification and combined cycle technology. NTPC, BHEL and CSIR laboratories should work on this project in a mission mode. Coal India and other producers should help in this project by contributing in beneficiation and washing of the coal input. We should have a time bound programme for getting the results from this project. I am sure that these results will have far reaching implications on the choice of technology for all our future mining applications.

All mining operations today involve continuous use of explosives, thereby generating high noise level, vibrations and shocks and very high level of dust pollution. This also takes away very large area as explosive safety zone and environment safety zone. Can our researchers evolve a technology for using high power laser system for safe, pollution free and precision mining?

Minerals from other planets

Human life has been continuing for millions of years. It had been a long journey for mankind from Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and so on. We have now reached a stage, when material is available abundantly from mother Earth. But it is not a renewable resource, one day it will exhaust. Demand for minerals is expected to grow very fast, due to increasing levels of consumption, infrastructure development, and growth of the economy. The emergence of a vibrant middle class has created demand for base metal products, in addition to the traditional demand for gold and silver. Hence we have to expand our knowledge to add value to the materials presently available and preserve it for future use. Within the next few decades, we will encounter a totally new situation of acute shortages of water, energy and minerals. No single nation will be able to handle the situation by itself. Humanity will require mega missions for harnessing solar energy, drinking water from sea water through desalination process and bringing minerals from other planets. This will involve innovation and research in satellite based remote sensing of other planets, robotics, mining equipment, mining operation, extraction, beneficiation, processing and transportation. I request this Congress, to address the problem and prepare a detailed plan for undertaking such challenging missions through a consortium of multiple nations

Challenges in Jharia

Jharia Coal field in Jharkhand is the richest coal bearing area in the country which contains large quantities of high grade coking coal. However, this area also contains a large number of mine fires which have been burning for several decades. I am reminded of an incident when I was traveling from Sindri to Dhanbad. Hundreds of villagers rushed to my car and narrated the heating and spot-fire which regularly takes place near their houses. A major challenge to the mining community is that of tackling fires which have engulfed large and densely populated coal bearing areas. Similar problems would have been experienced in many parts of the world. This congress can take a lead in finding a technological, cost effective, safe and minimum disturbance solution to this problem by focusing the attention of the best minds in the field

Mines Safety

I am happy to know that the mines safety performance has been continuously improving in the past few years. This is indicated by the drop in fatal accidents, serious accidents, injuries and the death rate per million tones. However we have a long way to reach zero accident situations. For enabling this, we have to apply legislative, promotional and operational measures on a continuous basis. Some of the operational measures to improve the safety performance include a participative approach of tackling the problem in which all the stake holders participate in the design of an integrated risk management system. The integrated approach would cover risk evaluation, identifying hazards, analyzing, prioritizing, ranking the risks and monitoring the same. It requires a thorough understanding of the finer aspects of disaster management and recovery. I suggest the Congress to create a website ? ?Web of Life ? Mines Safety?. This could be a forum through which many countries can exchange their views on the aspects of mine accidents. We could gather the data for the past 25 years and use the very best of data mining tools to take us to a world of accident free mining. The next World Mining Congress must have a special session and theme devoted to the international experiences in mines safety and their possible localization. The deliberations and recommendations thereupon will lead to the evolution of feasible designs and design standards for accident free mining.

Information Technology for the Mining Industry

We have a unique blend of small and large scale mining operations. There is a need for assimilating the advances in Information and Communication technologies into mining operations. Experiences from the oil and gas exploration where most advanced ICT have been successfully used, will be useful in the mining industry as well. Many times the oil and gas industry has given the thrust to ICT out of necessity ? 3D imaging and visualization and networking of large scale super computers. Our mining industry could further modernize by using softwares for an integrated data management, analysis and 3D geological modelling, 3D plant design and advanced real time control and monitoring systems. Our IT experts must work with mining community to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in the application of information technology for technological upgradation of our mines

Challenges for Mining Industry

Mining exploration in a large scale has to take place in India for locating unique materials, and minerals as vast area has yet to be explored. Mining of the seas is unexplored and it provides lot of opportunities. International partnership in such type of ventures has to be initiated.

Indian Mining industry should expand the scope of their contribution to the GDP from the existing 3 ? 5% to over 10%. We should work for increasing the productivity from 0.5 tonnes per man-year to 5 tonnes per man-year in underground coal mines using long wall mining and from 15 tonnes per man-year to 30 tonnes per man-year in open cast mines. Our heavy industries should produce state of the art equipment for open cast mines and also long wall mining system. Application of Information Technology should lead to robotic mining for improving the precision, safety and overall yield from mining. More thrust should be given to safety for evolving accident free mining.

I am sure, this World Congress will deliberate on these aspects and come out with an innovative and comprehensive action plan for providing effective solutions and their progressive implementation. This in turn will form the vision for mining industry.

I wish the 19th World Mining Congress all success