Rajasthan Explores Critical Minerals from Mining Waste

Jaipur, Jun 10 (PTI) Rajasthan has launched an initiative to extract critical minerals such as nickel and cobalt from mining waste, with early studies indicating significant potential, officials said on Wednesday.

The initiative, being carried out under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Critical Mineral Mission and led by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, aims to strengthen India's energy, strategic and economic security.

According to an official statement, initial studies of waste dumps from pink and green marble in the state have shown encouraging quantities of these critical minerals, which are essential for sectors such as defence, green energy, aerospace and aeronautics.

To advance the project, the Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Exploration Trust (RSMET) has signed an agreement with IIT (ISM) Dhanbad to scientifically assess and enable commercial utilisation of minerals recovered from large mining dumps.

As part of a pilot project, 78 mineral dumps have been identified across the state and grouped into clusters. In one such cluster in Udaipur and adjoining areas, eight pink marble dumps and two green marble (serpentinite) dumps were studied, revealing mineral concentrations estimated at 25 to 40 times their average abundance in the Earth's crust.


Officials said the remaining 68 dumps and tailings are also being evaluated through geo-referenced mapping, sampling and mineralogical analysis to identify resources such as tungsten, lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements (REEs).

These dumps have been identified in several districts, including Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Salumber, Ajmer, Nagaur, Sirohi, Jodhpur and Jalore, among others.

Experts from IIT Dhanbad, including Prof Dheeraj Kumar and Emeritus Prof A.S. Venkatesh, recently met senior state officials and indicated strong potential for large-scale availability of critical minerals in these deposits.

The state government said the initiative represents a major step towards sustainable mining practices and aligns with national efforts to accelerate exploration and extraction of critical and rare earth minerals.

Officials added that recent discoveries of rare earth element deposits in the Siwana Ring Complex in Rajasthan have further strengthened the state's position in the critical minerals sector, with the Centre already initiating auction of mineral blocks.