Coal India's tech tweak for green mining options; stock climbs ~1.5%

17 Jun 2022 , 03:11 PM

Coal India Limited (CIL) is looking into green mining solutions to reduce the negative environmental effect by implementing a variety of eco-friendly technology in its UG and OC mines.

With land becoming a key barrier to the growth of coal mining operations, these solutions prevent land acquisition and damage. These technologies can now reveal previously undiscovered coal assets owing to techno-commercial and safety considerations.

CIL is considering tripling its UG output to 100 million tonnes (MTs) by FY2030, up from 25.6 MTs in FY22. UG output is ecologically sustainable, has a low impact on land degradation, and is socially acceptable. Around 70% of the country’s coal deposits are suitable for UG mining.

The goal is for UG production to significantly complement OC output. At the present rate, mineable coal reserves at existing OC will begin to decline gradually.

CIL would implement 50 continuous miners with a peak output capacity of 25 MT/Y among mass production methods by FY25. 21 of these machines are already in operation at ECL, CCL, and SECL, producing 9 MTs/Y.

Two Powered Support Long Wall (PSLW) machines in ECL and BCCL produced 1.58 MTs in FY22, up from 1.13 MTs in FY21, representing a 40% increase. BCCL will shortly get two additional PSLWs with a combined capacity of 4.5 MT/Y.

For the first time, CIL intends to mine coal using punch entry in OC mines that have achieved their maximal pit level. This might be accomplished using a combination of technologies.

CIL intends to locate and develop 5 such mines in a phased way by punch entry through FY24. So that coal assets may be mined economically.

CIL intends to implement 10 High Wall machines at its OC mines during the current fiscal year, with a predicted production capacity of 5 MTs/Year. With one such project being active in SECL, three more will be operational in ECL very shortly. One Highwall machine costs Rs200 crore in capital expenditure.

At around 3.16 PM, Coal India was currently trading at Rs182.60 up by Rs2.55 or 1.42% from its previous closing of Rs180.05 on the BSE. The scrip touched intraday high and low of Rs184.75 and Rs179.40 respectively.