By IANS,
Raipur : A new reserve of about 300,000 tonnes of bauxite ore has been found in Chhattisgarh’s Maoist stronghold of Bastar, mining officials said Wednesday.
“We found about 300,000 tonnes of bauxite reserves spread in an area of 20 hectares at village Kudarwahi in Keshkal area in Bastar district,” an official of the government-owned Chhattisgarh Mining Development Corporation (CMDC) told IANS.
“It’s a high-quality reserve and CMDC intends to open up the mine for excavation within three-four months.”
But he said it would be difficult to run mining activities in the area due to growing Maoist dominance.
Chhattisgarh has known deposits of bauxites in Surguja and Kawardha districts where the Vedanta Resources Plc-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) is excavating ore to feed its Korba-based plant.
Bastar district is about 300 km from state capital Raipur.