Coal India's consulting arm CMPDIL has been recruited by NTPC to develop separate mining plans for the Banai and Bhalumuda coal mines in Chhattisgarh with the aim of maximizing extractable reserves by merging the two mines.
The Ministry of Coal recently asked NTPC to prepare separate mining plans for both blocks, an official said.
"In March 2018, NTPC asked the Ministry of Coal to consider the merger of these mines. After pursuing this for the last two years, in February of this year, the Ministry of Coal asked NTPC for separate mining plans and asked the PSU to try to increase its mine capacity, "the official said.
Another official close to the development said the two mines were unexplored at the time of allocation to NTPC and the PSU carried out extensive exploration and prepared geological reports by engaging CMPDIL.
According to provisional estimates prior to exploration, the gross extractable resource determined by the Ministry of Coal was approximately 1,000 million tons from these two mines. However, following the preparation of geological studies , it was found that the gross extractable reserves from both blocks would be only 500 million tons due to difficult geo-mining conditions. When NTPC consulted CMPDIL, the latter said that if the two blocks were merged, they could produce an additional 125 million tonnes, the official said.
Both the coal blocks in Chhattisgarh are adjacent to each other and face difficulties in dumping overburdens, as the areas surrounding the blocks are coal-bearing and NTPC could not get such land from Coal India, the official said.
The stripping ratio of these blocks is also very high, more than 7.5 cubic meters per tonne, requiring more dumping ground, the official said.
Both blocks were allocated to NTPC in March 2015 and output is expected by 2022-23 if the coal ministry permits the merging / combined operation of these two mines by September, the official said.
CMPDIL is a leading expert in open pit and underground mining preparation and design for coal, lignite and other minerals. It has produced over 900 reports of mining projects with individual project capacity of up to 25 million tons per year, according to its website.
