Govt stresses on potential of exploration licence regime in unlocking critical mineral reserves

The government is emphasizing the transformative potential of exploration licenses to unlock India's critical mineral reserves, encouraging private sector involvement in early-stage exploration.

The government on Tuesday highlighted the transformative potential of the exploration licence regime in unlocking the country's critical mineral reserves.

The Ministry of Mines organized a National Workshop and Roadshow on the Exploration Licence (EL) regime and the upcoming Tranche-1 Auction of Exploration Licence blocks.

Delivering the keynote address, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, V L Kantha Rao noted that the policy marks a shift from passive ownership to active exploration, empowering private entities to undertake large-scale early-stage exploration for minerals like Lithium, REEs, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum Group Elements (PGEs), the mines ministry said in a statement.

Mines Additional Secretary Sanjay Lohiya reaffirmed the government's vision to enable a competitive, technology-driven, and investment-friendly exploration ecosystem. He stressed upon the need for collaboration between public and private players and urged all stakeholders to actively participate in the auction process. The government had last month launched the auction of 13 exploration licence blocks, covering critical minerals such as Rare Earth Elements (REE), zinc, diamond and copper.

With the enactment of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023, exploration licences were introduced to allow private participation in reconnaissance and prospecting for 29 critical and deep-seated minerals, including lithium, copper, cobalt, gold and silver.