Mineral production falls by 16% in April 2010

The mineral production from mining and quarrying sector in April 2010 was lower by 15.95% compared to that of the preceding month, a Ministry of Mines data said. However, the mineral sector has shown a positive growth of 11.41% during April 2010 as compared to that of the corresponding month of previous year.

The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during April 2010 was Rs10607 crore. The data suggested that contribution of coal was the highest at Rs3551 crore (33%), followed by iron ore Rs2699 crore, petroleum (crude) Rs 1599 crore, natural gas (utilized) Rs1399 crore, lignite Rs390 crore and limestone Rs272 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 93% of the total value of mineral production in April 2010.
Production level of important minerals in April 2010 were: coal 387 lakh tonnes, lignite 35 lakh tonnes, natural gas (utilized) 4457 million cu. m., petroleum (crude) 29 lakh tonnes, bauxite 1185 thousand tonnes, chromite 333 thousand tonnes, copper conc. 13 thousand tonnes, gold 218 kg., iron ore 224 lakh tonnes, lead conc. 11 thousand tonnes, manganese ore 254 thousand tonnes, zinc conc. 96 thousand tonnes, apatite & phosphorite 135 thousand tonnes, dolomite 354 thousand tonnes, limestone 205 lakh tones, magnesite 26 thousand tones and diamond 2711 carats.
The data revealed that in April 2010, the output of chromite increased by 9.99%, manganese ore 3.97%, lignite 3.56%, iron ore 2.5percent. However, the production of copper conc. decreased by 0.02%, gold 0.91%, limestone 2.67%, petroleum (crude) 2.94%, dolomite 4.45%, natural gas (utilized) 5.47%, magnesite 8.13%, lead conc. 13.03%, bauxite 13.18%, zinc conc. 13.39%, apatite & phosphorite 17.67%, diamond 19.39% and coal 36.67 percent.