Indian government-run manganese miner is looking to expand its mining footprint outside its current leasehold areas, sources said on Thursday, April 25.
The miner is looking to undertake explorations across prospective reserves in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, West Bengal and Rajasthan.
At present, MOIL operates 10 mines: six in Maharashtra and four in Madhya Pradesh.
The company carried out exploratory core drilling of 35,000-odd metres in the April-September period of 2022-23, which is thrice the extent achieved in the corresponding period in the previous year and this will help the company add manganese ore reserves and resources in its existing leases and also open new mines wherever potential is found, the sources said.
In Madhya Pradesh, reservation was granted in the Balaghat, Chhindwara and Jabalpur districts and exploration was completed at Chhindwara and is currently underway at Balaghat.
The go-ahead has been given for further exploration in 218 sq km in Chhattisgarh, the sources said.
