By IANS,
New Delhi: The government Friday approved an investment of Rs.1,856.36 crore to develop an underground copper ore mine in Malanjkhand area of Madhya Pradesh.
“The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has approved the investment proposal of Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) for Rs.1,856.36 crore,” an official statement said.
The new investment would be utilised in developing an underground copper ore mine of five million tonne capacity per annum, under the Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP), according to the statement.
“The project with an investment of Rs.1,856.36 crore seeks to develop an underground mine under the existing open cast mine,” it said, adding that funds required for the project will be met by HCL and no budgetary support will be taken from the government.
The statement said the new investment will bring in more mining capacity in the area, as the current mine has reached 340 metres with a residual life of less than seven years till March, 2018.
“Below this depth (340 metres) the open cast mining is not financially viable as cost of ore production shall be more than underground mine,” it said.
The project would be executed by engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor and is expected to take five years for completion.
“After completion of the project, Malanjkhand will be the biggest underground mine in the country,” the statement added.
MCP has rich extractable copper reserves of 141 million tonnes and is currently mining two million tonnes per annum.