For anyone left wondering what coal has to do with our review of the cement industry, we have to first clarify the context. Coal has the special distinction of being at the same time, the fuel and a raw material for production of clinker, the cement intermediate.

Around a year back it was, that, while reviewing the pace of reforms in the mining regulations, we wrote, that 'Indian Mining comes of age'. Perhaps we spoke too much, and too soon.

The world's largest coal miner, CIL, is planning to acquire coking coal mines in Australia as it looks to supplement the requirement of the country’s metallurgical coal.

In coal mining, generation of fine (powder) material is an important factor to assess the quantum of useful material component. Optimising the fines content of run-of-mine coal offers numerous savings and benefits.

The eco-friendly operation of surface miners has made them a very popular and safe option of open cast mining of coal and limestone, as they eliminate hazardous drilling and blasting processes. The small product size also ensures smooth transport of material with lighter vehicles without the need of primary crushing.

A safety audit for 418 coal mines was ordered in the month of December 2016. The decision was taken in the wake of one of the worst open cast mine disasters at Eastern Coalfields Limited´s Rajmahal mine, which killed at least 18 people.

It has been said that value can only be created from the Earth´s crust or from human intellect, and that most of the times, these two elements come together to create products that we need.

Aditya Birla Group-controlled UltraTech Cement Ltd has won two coal linkages for its cement plants in Maharashtra.

The government is waiting for the economy to pick up before it can auction coal mines for captive and commercial use to private companies.