The Supreme Court of the state of Karnataka, India, has ruled that mining at category A and B designated mines can resume after investigations into illegal mining operations meant that production in the state was put on hold.
It is thought it will take over two years for the mines to become fully operational, and that when they are annual production for the state will be around 25Mt. Around 115 mines have been granted approval to resume operations, although approximately 40 of these will not be able to start due to issues such as small leasehold or resettlement and rehabilitation issues.
Karnataka used to produce around 40-50Mt of ore annually, which was the second largest production in the country. It is thought that for the current financial year the state’s production will not exceed 15Mt.