Northern Coalfields to start production of M-Sand

The initiative is based on promoting sustainable practices for optimum utilization of natural resources and minimizing the adverse impact of mining.

Keeping an eye on business diversification with focus on ecological balance, the company has set up another manufacturing plant using its Over Burden (OB) as raw material.

“This eco-friendly initiative by the company will help prevent river bed erosion and preserve the aquatic ecosystem. Recently NCL has obtained Consent to Operate (CTO) which paves way towards commercial production and auction of M-sand which is likely to start next month.

To extract coal below, 410 million cubic meters of overburden is required to be removed. The material above the coal seam is known as overburden. This huge amount is almost four times the amount of coal that can be extracted.

NCL produces 122 million tonnes of coal annually from its 10 open-pit mines. Bulky overburden takes up a lot of space and is a wasteful material.

NCL will produce about 3 lakh cubic meters of M-sand annually and will use 1429 cubic meters of overburden per day to make 1000 cubic meters of sand per day.

The ‘M-Sand’ produced will be e-auctioned at a much cheaper base price and of better or equal quality as compared to sand currently available in the market.

After the successful commissioning of this plant, the company is also planning to install more such innovative Over Burden for M-Sand making units in various production projects. Against the background of top soil of NCL having good silica composition, the possibility of manufacturing solar panels, glass, GRP pipes and other materials is also being explored.

The company’s mines are located in Singrauli and Sonbhadra districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively, and have been assigned coal production and despatch targets of 122 million tonnes in the current financial year 2022-23.