India's MOIL Limited, formerly Manganese Ore India Limited, has been granted a prospecting license by the provincial government of Maharasthra across 597.44 hectares through which the miner targets ore production of 2.2 million mt per year by 2020 against the current level of 1,071,000 mt, a company official said.
MOIL is the largest manganese producer in India holding 30 percent of the country's total manganese reserves of 73.5 million mt.
The company is also implementing a project to increase ore extraction from 400,000 mt per year to 800,000 mt per year at its Balaghat mines in central India.
At its Chikla mines, in close proximity, MOIL has undertaken deepening of the vertical shaft to sustain its present capacity of 80,000 mt per year. The projects are scheduled to be completed by 2015.