Mechanisation of beach placer mining above water table - some preliminary considerations

Geologically India is known for its coastline being very rich in heavy mineral deposits, especially ilmenite and rutile with monazite, zircon and garnet. Looking at the contribution of India in global production of ilmenite today, it is hard to believe that till late 1930s we had a worldwide monopoly in the supply of ilmenite. In post-Independence era, because of the presence of monazite, an ore of thorium – a potential source of atomic energy, beach placer mining was gradually taken over by the Government of India, leaving garnet mining only open for private sector. However, the public sector companies could not prosper as had been visualised. Lately, in tune with the liberalization of economic policy in other fields, the Government of India has made beach placer mining of all the heavy minerals, barring monazite, open to all. To boost this business, a project on capacity building for coastal placer mining ahs selection, adoption and modification of suitable mining equipment and system for extraction of beach placer above water table. This paper is an outcome of preliminary review of the existing conventional mining equipment with reference to placer mining.