The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has cleared Hindustan Copper Ltd's (HCL) proposal to expand its mine capacity at Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh. HCL proposes to invest Rs 1,856.36 crore to develop an underground copper mine of 5 million tonnes a year (mtpa) capacity at Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP). HCL currently produces 2 mtpa of copper ore through the opencast mine at MCP.
The fund required for the project will be met by Hindustan Copper and no budgetary support will be taken from the Government. The Malanjkhand Copper Project has extractable copper reserves of 141 mt, which is more than 70 per cent of the known reserves in the country. The depth of open cast mines has reached 340 metres and the residual life is estimated to be less than seven years till March 2018.
