India Taps Telangana Mine Waste for Rare Earths in Self‑Reliance Push
India has begun a focused hunt for rare earth elements hidden in the huge piles of earth that coal miners normally throw away. The development, first reported by CNBC‑TV18, follows early success in Telangana. Laboratory work led by the government‑run Non‑ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre (NFTDC) discovered that every 15 tonnes of clay overburden at Singareni Collieries’ Sathupalli and Ramagundam open‑cast pits contains about one kilogram of scandium and strontium.
Scandium strengthens aircraft alloys and fuel‑cell plates, while strontium is used in magnets, medical imaging and vacuum tubes. Singareni Chairman‑cum‑Managing Director N. Balram said commercial supplies from the two mines should start in August, turning what was once waste into a new revenue stream and reducing India’s dependence on imports.
The discovery has prompted the National Critical Minerals Mission to widen exploration to other coal‑bearing states, metallic‑ore districts and even the petroleum sector so that valuable elements are extracted before waste is dumped. New Delhi sees the programme as essential insurance after China, which refines about 90 percent of the world’s rare‑earth output and controls 60 percent of magnet production, tightened export rules last year.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has already warned industry that Beijing’s move is a “wake‑up call” to diversify supply chains. Officials told CNBC‑TV18 that India is also negotiating with resource‑rich partners such as Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile to jointly develop mines and processing plants in the coming years, giving manufacturers of batteries, motors, robots and defence equipment a more secure pipeline of critical materials.
Source: Financial Express
