The Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) for Exploration and Research of India has expanded its exploration activities to include rare earth metals, especially niobium and tantalum, in central India, particularly in the Satpuda-Gondwana formations in the Sarguja belt.

AMD decided to expand and include the search for rare earth metals on the basis of its continuing exploration and drilling activities for uranium, the Times of India reported.

Pratap Singh Parihar, AMD Director, said the directorate recently increased its activities in the Satpuda-Gondwana formations, especially in Sarguja district in Chhattisgarh, where AMD is also drilling for uranium in Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Chhattisgarh region is 912.59 kilometers, southeast of capital New Delhi.

"We are targeting extension areas in the already known presence of uranium in these Satupda-Gondwana formations. The signatures of mineral were already there. We are now going for more detailed investigations of migmatite rock types, known to contain uranium. Drilling work has already begun in some areas," the Times of India quoted Parihar as saying.

With the explorations in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, AMD decided to include searching for rare earths as well, particularly niobium and tantalum.

"We are getting good results at Marlagalam in Mandya district in Karnataka," Parihar said. Niobium, a metal used as an alloy in nuclear reactors, is understandably very important for AMD, while tantalum is mostly used in the electronics industry.

India's Growing Energy Needs

India, considered an emerging market economy and touted to become the world's third-largest economy, is exploring all possible energy sources, as local supply cannot keep up with the requirements of its economy. India, a member of the BRIC nations, imports large amounts of coal and petroleum. The country targets that 25 per cent of its electricity requirements come from nuclear power by 2050, a very big jump from the 2.5 per cent it contributed in 2007. To achieve this, India would need to scour and import uranium from every possible source.

One of AMD's biggest achievement was when it discovered 62,000 tons of uranium at 450 parts per million concentration from an earlier known occurrence of 15,000 tons in Kadappa district in Andhra Pradesh.

The commercial production of this uranium is expected to start anytime this 2012, through Uranium Corporation India Limited.