Singareni becomes first coal PSU to take up exploration of gold, copper in country

HYDERABAD

Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has stepped into another area of business — venturing into the field of critical mineral exploration by securing a license for gold and copper blocks’ survey in Devadurga area of Karnataka through the auction conducted by the Union Ministry of Mines and becoming the first coal company to do so.

Revealing this on Tuesday, Chairman and Managing Director of SCCL N. Balram stated that Singareni has emerged as the L-1 bidder by quoting 37.75% royalty in the online auction. He described this as a historic beginning for the company in the critical minerals exploration and the first success in line with the State government’s vision to expand SCCL into new sectors.

He explained that exploration activities in the allotted area would be completed within the next five years. Stating that exploration would begin soon in Karnataka, he said Singareni’s Exploration Division would soon commence research in the Devadurga region of Karnataka, where gold and copper deposits were traced/located.

After completing various stages of exploration, SCCL must submit the final results to the Government of India in the form of a report. The Centre would then put up the mines up for auction for commercial mining based on the estimated reserves.

“The company that secures the mining rights, be it SCCL or another firm, will have to pay royalty to the Karnataka government and out of which 37.75% will go to SCCL throughout the lifetime of the mine”, Mr. Balaram said and added that the exploration work was expected to cost about ₹90 crore. Of it, ₹20 crore would be provided as subsidy by the Central government.

Kudos to SCCL: CM, Dy. CM

Meanwhile, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka who handles the portfolio of Energy congratulated SCCL on winning the exploration license for gold and copper, for the first time, through auction. They expressed confidence that with its 136-year mining experience in coal and proven expertise in exploration, Singareni would emerge as a leading company in the country in critical minerals exploration as well.

Mr. Balaram stated that Singareni had participated in three auctions after expert teams studied prospective blocks, including platinum group elements block at Padhar in Madhya Pradesh, rare earth elements block at Ontillu, Chandragiri in Andhra Pradesh and gold and copper block at Devadurga in Karnataka, after the Centre had initiated auction of 13 critical mineral exploration licenses on March 13, 2025.