60 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
various types of publications such as memoirs, records, bulletins, Indian minerals and
Palentologica Indica.
(2) Indian Bureau of Mines
Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) is a multi-disciplinary scientific and technical department.Function
(1) It is primarily responsible for the conservations and scientific development of mineral
resources other than coal, petroleum, natural gas, atomic minerals and minor
minerals.
(2) It scrutinises mining laws before granting approval, undertakes inspection and
study of mines and research on beneficiation of low-grade ores and minerals and
on special mining problem.
(3) It provides technical consultancy service to the mining industry for survey and
geological appraisal of mineral resources and preparation of feasibility reports on
mining projects including beneficiation plants.
(4) It advises Central and state governments on all aspects of mineral industry, trade
and Legislation. IBM has its headquaters at Nagpur with 12 regional offices and
three well-equiped ore dressing laboratories and pilot plants.
(5) IBM function as a ‘data bank’ for mines and minerals and bulletins on different
connected subjects. Important publications are: Indian Minerals Year Book (Annual),
Bulletin of Mineral Information (Quarterly), Mineral Statistics of India (Half-yearly),
Monthly Statistical of Mineral Production, Foreign Trade in Mineral and Metals
(Annual) and Indian Mineral Industry at a Glance (Annual).- Public Sector Mining Undertaking
The Department of Mines has administrative responsibility for following undertakings:
(1) Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL)—Zinc and Lead
(2) Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL)—Copper
(3) Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML)—Gold
(4) Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd. (BALCO)—Aluminium
(5) National Aluminimum Co. Ltd., (NALCO)—Alminimum
(6) Mineral Exploration Cooperation Ltd. (MECL)—Exploration
(7) Sikkim Mining Corporation—Copper, Zinc and Lead.- Hindustan Zinc Limited
Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) was incorporated in January 1966 with the following
purposes:
(1) To take over operation of the erswhile Metal Corporation of India.
(2) To develop mining and smelting capacities for zinc and lead.
Beginning with 500 tonnes per day at Mochia in Rajasthan and 3,600 tonnes per year