Large diameter drilling has been approved in Baloda-Belmundi diamond block of Mahasamund. This will lead to scientific assessment of diamond reserves and will be a big step towards commercial mining.
Raipur. An important decision has been taken towards giving a new identity to the mineral wealth of Chhattisgarh at the national level. The next phase of Baloda-Belmundi Diamond Block Project in Mahasamund district was approved by the Board of Directors of NMDC-CMDC Limited (NCL) in its meeting held in New Delhi. Under this, **large diameter drilling** will be started.
According to experts, this phase is considered to be the most important part of the project, because through this the actual diamond reserves present in the area will be scientifically evaluated. After this, the way for diamond mining on commercial level will be cleared in future.
Scientific assessment of diamond reserve will be done, feasibility report will be prepared.
During the meeting, the Board of Directors reviewed in detail the progress of the project so far. Also instructions were given that all the technical work should be completed in a time bound manner within the stipulated period of prospecting license. The diamond reserves present in the kimberlite pipe will be accurately assessed through large diameter drilling. After this a detailed **Feasibility Report** will be prepared. On the basis of this report, it will be decided whether a commercial diamond mine will be developed in the area or not.
Many senior officers were present in the NCL board meeting
In the meeting held in New Delhi, NCL Board of Directors members Amitabh Mukherjee, Ashish Chatterjee, Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Saurabh Singh, Mineral Department Secretary P. Dayanand, Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Managing Directors Rajat Bansal, Upendra Kumar and Vinay Kumar and other senior officials were present.
NCL is a joint venture of NMDC and CMDC.
NMDC-CMDC Limited (NCL) is a joint venture between **NMDC Limited** and **Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC)**, a Government of India undertaking. NMDC has 51 percent stake in it and CMDC has 49 percent stake. Till now the company has been mainly working on iron ore projects, but after the confirmation of natural diamonds in the Baloda-Belmundi area, the company is moving rapidly towards multi-mineral development.
Project possibilities increased after finding five natural diamonds
NCL had identified kimberlite pipes in the area through stream sediment sampling, geophysical surveys and targeted drilling. After this, about 200 tonnes of bulk sample was tested at NMDC’s Panna Diamond Processing Plant. During testing, five natural diamonds weighing 1.22 carats were recovered. This proved scientifically that the geological structure of this area is rich in diamonds.
Possible future looks like the world’s major diamond producing countries
Experts believe that similar signals were found in the initial phase in major diamond producing countries like Botswana, South Africa, Canada and Australia. Later large scale commercial diamond deposits developed there. Based on this experience, Baloda-Belmundi Diamond Project is being considered an important mineral project not only for Chhattisgarh but for the entire country.
Bailadila’s iron ore projects also reviewed
The progress of major iron ore projects of the state was also reviewed in the meeting. A target of production of 10 lakh tonnes has been set in Bailadila Deposit-4 during the current financial year. There is a plan to increase it to 70 lakh tonnes per year in a phased manner. At the same time, work is being done rapidly towards developing Bailadila Deposit-13 with an annual production capacity of one crore tonnes.
Special focus will be on environmental protection and local development
It was made clear in the meeting that environment protection, scientific mining, water conservation, waste management and social and economic development of local communities will be given top priority in all mining projects. Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Saurabh Singh said that balanced and responsible use of mineral resources is very important for the economic progress of the country. He expressed confidence that Baloda-Belmundi Diamond Project can play an important role in future in establishing Chhattisgarh in the category of major diamond producing states of the country.