VISION 2020 - ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE MINING

The State will focus on developing three or four key minerals: Coal, granite, limestone, and bauxite. These minerals have a tremendous potential to create economic impact either directly or through the development of down stream industries. Coal, granite and limestone are the State's 'strong suits' and Andhra Pradesh should be able to build a reasonably strong position in these industries. In the case of bauxite, however, almost all the deposits are to be found in the tribal areas of the State and the law prohibits the exploitation of any resource located in tribal areas except by the State Government or tribals themselves. Apart from developing the four minerals listed above, the State will actively encourage exploration and prospecting in beach sands for gold, diamonds, and natural gas.

To develop the mining sector in the state, it is critical to enunciate a clear policy on mining for the sector as a whole. This policy should provide a framework for economic operation of the mining industry while addressing key issues of environmental sustainability, local resettlement and resource conservation.

A major emphasis in framing enabling policy will be to create regulation that makes mining environmentally sustainable and economically feasible. Regulation can ensure environmentally sustainable mining in many ways, such as making the restoration of mined areas a precondition for obtaining mining licences, or introducing such provisions as 'Performance bonds' (bank guaranteed security deposits) through which an enterprise would guarantee restoration of mined areas. The deposits should be kept marginally higher than the restoration cost to provide an economic incentive for restoring the mined land. The Western Australian government has used this technique to ensure environmentally sustainable mining activity.

MINERALS1 Major Minerals	RESERVES Quantity	RESOURCE ADEQUACY
APATITE	1.68	Deficit
ASBESTOS	2.5 Lakh Tons	Deficit
AMETHYST	NE	Adequate
BARYTES	72	Abundant
BAUXITE	750	Abundant*
BALL CLAY	7.5	Deficit
CHINA CLAY	NE	Abundant*
CALCITE	39.92 Thousand Tons	Abundant*
FIRE CLAY	11.6	Abundant*
COAL	10500	Abundant*
CORUNDUM	1.07 Thousand Tons	Scarce*
COPPER ORE	6.5	Deficit
CHROMITE	2000 Tons	Scarce
DOLOMITE	170	Abundant*
DIAMONDS	1,94,990 Carats	Abundant*
FELDSPAR	1.5	Abundant*
FULLERS EARTH	25	Abundant
GARNET	5	Abundant*
GREEN QUARTZ	NE	Abundant
GRAPHITE	60000 Tones	Deficit
GOLD ORE	7060 Thousand Tons	Abundant*
GYPSUM	2.30 Thousand Tons	Scarce
ILLMENITE	9.34	Abundant*
IRON ORE	263	Abundant
KYANITE	40.65 Thousand Tons	Deficit
LATERITE	NE	Abundant*
LEAD&ZINC	7.5	Adequate
LIME STONE	34000	Abundant
LIMESHELL	NE	Deficit
LIME KANKAR	3.5	Deficit
MONAZITE SAND	32	Abundant*
MANGANESE	7	Abundant*
MICA	NE	Abundant
OCHRES	NE	Abundant
OIL & NATURAL GAS	NE	Adequate
PYROPHYLLITE	NE	Adequate
QUARTZ	50	Abundant*
QUARTZITE	NE	Abundant
RUTILE	NE	Abundant*
SEMI - PRECIOUS STONES	NE	Abundant*
SILICA SAND	40	Abundant*
STEATITE	5	Abundant*
STOWING SAND	NE	Adequate*
TUNGSTEN	12	Adequate
VERMICULITE	NE	Adequate