New copper reserves established in India

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has established indicative reserves of copper in the central Indian province of Chhattisgarh. The discovered copper reserves, spread across an estimated 25 km², will be taken up for detailed exploration by Chhattisgarh Copper Limited (CCL), the recently floated joint venture of the country’s sole integrated copper refiner, Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), which is owned by the government, and the Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Limited (CMDCL). CCL, incorporated last month, in which HCL holds a majority equity stake of 74% and CMDCL the balance, will commence detailed exploration next month, starting from Podal, in Chhattisgarh, as the location is in close proximity to HCL’s existing Malanjkhand copper project in the neighbouring province of Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, anticipating a shortage of copper in the wake of the closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite copper plant, in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, for violations of pollution control laws, HCL is planning to revive its mothballed Khetri copper plant in the central province of Rajasthan.