Mines Min aims 5-fold Rise in Gold Output to 45 tonne/year.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) Aimed at raising the domestic gold production five-fold to 45 tonnes a year, the Mines Ministry is understood to have proposed to the Planning Commission setting up of a central coordination agency ahead of the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Plan.
"The demand for gold is ever-increasing in India.
However, our production cuts a sorry figure. Compared to our imports of about 963 tonnes during 2010, our total production in 2010-11 was just 9.22 tonnes," a source in the know said.

Projecting a potential production of up to 45 tonnes a year by the terminal year of 12th Plan period, the Ministry said that a series of fiscal and operational incentives were needed to be awarded to the producers - mine owners and firms which make gold through smelting of copper concentrates.

At the centre of recommendations remains settting up of a coordination agency for taking a mission approach on gold and precious metals in order to accelerate the rate of exploration for tapping the potential. It too would focus on improving all areas of gold production.
The Ministry also recommended supports for exploitation of available resources by accelerating production from Hutti Gold Mines, recovery from Kolar Gold Field tailings, reviving abandoned mines and faster approvals of primary producers.
It also supports encouraging copper smelters for recovery of gold and silver from anode slimes by taking measures like removal of excise duty on finished gold, exemption from the countervailing duty and exemption of additional customs duty for gold contained in copper concentrate.

Total reserve-base of gold in the country, as on April 1, stood at 658 tonnes of gold metal spread over 13 states. Out of the reserve, 167 tonnes are economically mineable. The remaining about 491 tonnes of metallic gold is classified as resource of which 265 tonnes is the actual drilled resources and the rest 226 tonnes is the projected potential resource.

A major part of the country's production of gold comes as a by-product from anode slimes resulting by smelting of copper concentrates indigenously produced in Jharkhand and copper concentrates imported by Hindalco.

India is likley to import 9,305 tonnes of gold during the 12th Plan period, according to the Ministry estimates.

Source : news.in.msn.com