BALCO has two captive Bauxite mines in Chhattisgarh state – one at Mainpat with capacity 7,50,000 TPA & another at Bodai Daldali (Kawardha) with capacity of 12,50,000 TPA and a Coal mine at Chotia with capacity of 1 MTPA.
Both the Bauxite mines are situated at an elevated plateau; the area is flat and covered with soil / lateritic boulders. The Bauxite ore is available as pocket deposit with 1.5 metre average thickness and is normally available below 3 – 5 metres from ground level.
Chotia Coal mine located in Hasdeo Arand coal field in the state of Chhattisgarh, was originally allocated to M/s Prakash Industries Limited (PIL) in the year 2003. BALCO has participated in the e-auction conducted by the Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal and on winning the bid, Chotia Coal mine has been vested with BALCO vide vesting order no. 104/11/2015/NA dated 23rd March 2015.
Chotia Coal Mine consists of two sub-blocks namely Chotia I and Chotia II.
Operational Excellence
- Mining Method – Mechanised Opencast Mining.
- Top Soil – Reused for backfilling and to retain fertility of land.
- Equipment Deployed – Drill, Excavator, Dumper, Dozer and Water Sprinkler.
- Coal Cutting – By Excavator.
- Reclamation – Mining and backfilling executed concurrently.
- Reclaimed area is afforested to cover the exposed land with greenery.
- Original topography is retained.
- Afforestation – Plantation of manifold local species has increased the green density in the surrounding landscape.
- Environment Conservation – Pre-defined and systematic design of Garland Drains, Check Dams, Parapet Walls, development of Green Belt etc.
- Wildlife Conservation in association with State Government.
- Zero accident record since the start of mine by Balco.
- All mining activities and pollution prevention mitigation measures undertaken as per the stipulated guidelines of various governing agencies.
Resettlement Rehabilitation of Mines Displaced Families
- Benchmark Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R & R) for Project Affected Families.
- Facilities provided for rehabilitated villages are unique.