KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - The Indian government has proposed tweaking the atomic mineral concession rules, which would offer limited leeway to provincial governments to undertake mining of atomic minerals, subject to conditions.

Currently, mining of atomic minerals was under the sole purview of the federal government’s agencies under the scrutiny of the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, within the purview of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

However, once the new concession rules kicked in, provincial governments would be permitted to undertake mining of such minerals, subject to atomic mineral content being lower than a pre-determined threshold.

The Atomic Mineral Concession Rules 2016 had been circulated among various stakeholders, including local governments, mining industries and associations, with the latter asked to submit their responses and feedback by April 26.

The new concession rules proposed that in cases where a prospecting report indicated the occurrence of minerals and the quantity of atomic minerals contained in the ores was less than the threshold limit set by the DAE, the provincial government may grant the mineral concession to such area.

But the minerals discovered during the mining operations would have to be handled and disposed in line with rules set by the DAE and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

However, in the case that in prospecting stage it was determined that the atomic mineral content in the ore would be higher than the threshold limit, the provincial governments would have to follow stricter guidelines.

These included that the local government would demarcate the area where a mining lease was proposed, submit a proposal for the grant of a mining lease over the area identified and submit it to the federal government seeking that a federal government owned company or agency be granted such a mining lease.

It has been proposed in the new rules that in the case of provincial governments undertaking mining, the lease period be for 50 years or until resources were exhausted, or whichever was earlier.

However, in the fine print of the rules, it has also been proposed that in the case of an existing mineral concession, discovery of atomic minerals be subject to fresh appraisals by the federal government.

In such a case, if the atomic mineral was less than the threshold level, the existing concessionaire would be allowed to continue mining operations.

However, if the atomic mineral content was higher than the threshold limit, the existing concessionaire would be permitted to continue operations only if the reconnaissance permit of the block was granted before January 12, 2015, and only on approval of a government owned mining company.

If the existing miner was not eligible to receive a mining licence for the atomic mineral the provincial government would have to terminate its mining lease and the holder of the reconnaissance permit be compensated for expenditure incurred on the reconnaissance project.