Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 5706 |
| Work Detail | Madhya Pradesh has seen a slightly more enthusiastic response to its second attempt to auction a diamond mine of estimated 10.2 carats. Four players including a firm of the cash-rich Rungta Group and Thriveni Earthmovers submitted technical bids in the auction, whose winner is likely to be known before the end of the month. The highest qualified bidder will be granted a composite prospecting and mining lease. "Having built a serious exploration team and with exploration equipment for deep seated minerals we have we would like to pursue such early stage projects," B Prabhakaran, managing director of Thriveni Earthmovers told ET. Bhopal-based Bansal construction and Kolkata's Pushpanjali Traders are also in the race for the combined prospecting-cum-mining lease. The Hatupur diamond deposit in Panna is spread over 133 hectares and promises reserves of 10.20 carat diamonds as per preliminary exploration. A tepid response time in April, with just two players and one late bid, had forced the state's mining department to cancel the auction. There were no takers then for the three limestone deposits which were being offered simultaneously. Things were not any better this time round. "Only on technical bid was received, for one of the deposits, which means we can't go through with the auction," said a senior mines department official. The official, who did not wish to be identified, said he did not know why no one was interested in the cement grade, medium-sized deposits. Madhya Pradesh estimates it has a reserve of 976.05 thousand carats. Panna is where state-owned NMDC Ltd operates the country's only diamond mine. Its Majhgawan mine, working under a lease supervised by the Supreme Court due to its proximity to a wildlife reserve, produces around 81,000 carats annually. It is also in Panna that Rio Tinto was hoping to develop a diamond mine of 27.4 million carats. But a decade after it discovered the kimberlite deposit, the company said it was walking away from the project citing unpromising shareholder value returns and cost-cutting. Others said the delayed environment clearances and new challenges arising from the proposed Ken Batwa riverlinking project may have led to the decision. The mines ministry has said it will put the deposit up for auction. A senior official from NMDC, however, said on condition of anonymity that given the issues already flagged it is unlikely to generate interest. |
| Country | India , Southern Asia |
| Industry | Mining |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/metals-mining/Madhya-Pradesh-sees-better-response-to-second-attempt-at-diamond-mine-auction/articleshow/54019543.cms |
