State-owned Indian miner NMDC is poised to win a multibillion-dollar contract to explore and mine diamonds at a large project abandoned by global miner Rio Tinto, as per media reports. The Madhya Pradesh state government has asked NMDC to explore the Bunder deposits, which could contain millions of carats of diamonds. The state government last month awarded a smaller portion of the deposit to Essel Mining & Industries, part of Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group. That area was valued at about $9 billion, according to estimates by Rio Tinto and the state government.
Neeraj Mandloi, principal secretary at the state's Mineral Resource Department said: "Our geological survey has shown that the entire area, which has largely remained unexplored, is rich in diamonds," Mandloi said of the Bunder deposit, adding that its output could be in the billions of dollars. "We have requested NMDC to do a composite role of exploring and mining and the company has shown a preliminary interest."
Madhya Pradesh, the only diamond mining region in Asia, could be among the world's top ten diamond producers, studies have shown.
NMDC already mines in the neighbouring Majhgawan mine at Panna, Madhya Pradesh, where the company has extracted about 1 million carats of diamonds. The State has also asked NMDC to explore and mine diamonds in several other blocks, Mandloi said. NMDC is enthusiastic and looking forward to taking on another mine in Madhya Pradesh.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
