The World Nuclear Association estimated 3,00,000 tonnes of Thorium deposit in India. However, in recent years India has seen a depletion of these deposits. As per the reports, around 2,00,000 tonnes of Thorium-Oxide is missing from the country. Along with Thorium, Monazite quantity has also seen a decline along the coastline by more than 2.1 million tonnes.
VV Minerals, the largest sand beach mining company, has been at the receiving end of a Thorium scam. These allegations against the company cannot be justified simply because VV Minerals is the largest producer of Garnet and Ilmenite. VV Minerals stated, “The mineral rich sand is getting washed away from the Indian coastline in the absence of mining, and as a result, Sri Lanka, located further down, is reaping rich benefits at the cost of Indian industry.”
As per some allegations, Thorium scam is reported to be worth 96,000 crore rupees. It is practically impossible for one company to pull off a scam of such extent. VV Mineral Vaikundarajan further explains that the rising water level from global warming is also responsible for these depletions. “The water is moving is on the shores resulting in India losing a lot of mineral reserves,” he explains. At this rate, India may soon lose its Thorium rich status.
Currently, Indian Rare Earths Ltd is the only company exporting Monazite. Other minerals such as Ilmenite, Rutile, Leucoxene, Garnet, Silimanite and Zircon are separated from beach sands before exporting. No licence or permission is required from DAE to export these minerals due to their delisting from the list of prescribed substances.
VV Mineral Vaikundarajan believes that these are natural problems that need to be dealt with. Allegations against the company are complete fabrication and will lead to nothing.
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