Hyderabad: Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has entered a landmark agreement with CSIR–Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) to jointly explore and extract rare earth elements and other critical minerals from coal mining waste across Singareni operations. The initiative will focus on materials such as shale, clay, sandstone, granite, coal fly ash, and bottom ash.

Signed in the presence of SCCL CMD N. Balram, the agreement builds on an initial MoU inked in June this year. Preliminary studies have confirmed the presence of critical minerals in open-cast mine overburden, fly ash from the Singareni Thermal Power Plant, and select hill formations. Samples from the Durgamgutta block near Manuguru, collected by the Geological Survey of India, also revealed rare earth elements.

A total of 14 minerals have been identified, including six light rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium, and praseodymium, and eight heavy rare earth elements like yttrium, scandium, and dysprosium. CSIR-IMMT will assess economic viability and develop indigenous extraction technologies, a major step toward India’s critical mineral security.