KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – The Mines Ministry deadline of December 2018 for all states to complete exploration of 329 mineral blocks where mining leases are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2020, is largely going to be missed.

The Mines Ministry earlier in the year directed all state governments to make mineral blocks where leases were to expire ready to be put up for fresh auction by completing exploration of the entire lease hold area by December, so that rounds of auction could start next year and new miners be allocated the blocks and avoid any risks of disruptions of production from operational mines.

According to information from the government, only 101 mineral blocks of the 329 were ready to be put up for auction with exploration completed in these blocks.

The highest number of mining leases up for expiry are in Goa (184), followed by Karnataka (48) and Odisha (17).

In case of any delay in completing auction by March 31, 2020, and production having to be stopped after the date, loss in production from Odisha mines alone has been projected at 66-million tons and all mines with expired leases in all other states could result in total loss in mineral production of another 90-million tons.

All existing mining lease holders were directed to complete new exploration within their respective leasehold areas within 60 days which was to expire in December 2018, and the state government would have another 30 days to approve such exploration reports for each of the mining leasehold areas.

Even as timelines for completion of auction before March 31, 2020, are showing signs of slippages, the Mines Ministry is putting together a committee comprising representatives of relevant federal ministries and from mineral-bearing states.

The committee would be tasked to handle all post auction issues to ensure seamless transition of ownership of the mineral blocks to new miners and the committee acting as a single agency to facilitate the new miners securing all mandatory approvals to commence operations at the new leasehold areas, government officials said.