Biznext India: Public sector Manganese Ore miner MOIL on Tuesday said that it has resumed operations at its mines located in states like Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh.
However, the miner has said that it is utilizing only 20% of its capacity currently and it will be increased gradually in a phased manner.
“Following the instructions and guidelines issued by various authorities and permissions with respect to commencing the mining/other operations, MOIL has made necessary efforts for resuming mining operations at its mines. As a result of this, mining-related activities have been started at mines of the company. Capacity utilization at this stage is estimated to be around 20%, which will be increased in a phased manner in line with Government’s directives relating to relaxation in social distancing and other norms” said MOIL in a stock market filing.
MOIL operates total eleven mines in Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra and Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. Out of these eleven mines, seven mines are underground mines and four are open cast mines.
On 8th April, the company has announced halting of mining operations owing to the lockdown and other restrictions enforced by the government.
Though the Government has included mining as an essential service to ensure continuity of operations during the lockdown, mining activities have severely been impacted due to other restrictions and weak consumer demand.
