KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - India’s Mines Ministry is readying to unveil a new National Mineral Policy (NMP) in January, but was still undecided on whether retain provisions for a stand-alone reconnaissance permit (RP).

According to a Ministry official, considering the poor performance against RPs granted over the last 15 years, the government would have to make a call on whether to retain the provision or simply incorporate it within the proposed provisions for composite licensing system.

Citing data from the Ministry, he said that since the last 15 years the government had granted 401 RPs of which 241 had been categorised as ‘implemented’, with a further 55 as ‘no work done’, and only 15 of which had been successfully converted to  prospecting or mining licenses.

RPs were first introduced in 2001 when it was felt these permits would give a thrust to mineral exploration from specialised companies, which would otherwise not be keen to take up post explorations business verticals, the officials said.

However,  the objective had failed considering that only 341 000 km2 were covered under the RPs, entailing a meager investments of an estimated $52-million over 15 years, he added.

The draft new NMP currently in circulation seeking comments and feedback from interested stakeholders, did not provide for RPs, the official said, however, he added that a section of the domestic mining industry had submitted that RPs should be retained as an option for investors.

In case RPs were not be scrapped, the Mines Ministry would consider options to make them more attractive or to retain the provision for select mining exploration like that of diamond and gold wherein investments were higher than other minerals.

Some feedback to the new policy has sought investment incentives special to RPs wherein the explorer was reimbursed for its entire exploration expenses from the amount received through auction of the discovered mineral resource.

It has also been suggested that explorers should be given the first right to refusal of the mineral resource for a subsequent mining license, or the option to match the bid received at the auction of the same mineral reserve.

“The NMP will be ready by January and might be revised based on critical inputs,” Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar said.

“A separate policy was under consideration for deep-seated minerals like diamonds and gold for which amendments to the Mines, Minerals Development & Regulation Act would have to be passed by the Parliament,” he added.