The first scientific coal mining block at Saryngkham-A village in East Jaintia Hills district, has been inaugurated and is estimated to cost Rs 27 crore. The project proponent will set aside Rs 1.50 crore to mitigate environmental impacts due to the project’s Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) Programme.
An executive summary of the project reveals that the project is designed for extraction of 0.45 MT of total coal reserves over 12 years, with a peak capacity of 0.10 MTPA. Coal grade will vary widely from G1-G16. Coal extraction will be done using shovel-dumper combination in an opencast mechanized method, requiring explosives, machinery, diesel, lubricants, electricity, water, and facilities for personnel connected to mining operations.
Opencast mining involves procedures such as stacking top soil separately on the top soil dump and progressively using it for biological reclamation throughout the mine life. Overburden will be fragmented by drilling and blasting, and the fragmented rocks will be loaded into dumpers by shovel for transport to external/internal dumps.