"NEW DELHI— Rio Tinto PLC plans to invest $500 million in a diamond mining project in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a top executive said Monday.
The company, which is awaiting environmental clearances from Indian authorities to start mining, didn’t say how soon these approvals could be received.
“The environment and forests clearances take time,” Nik Senapati, managing director of the company’s Indian operations, told The Wall Street Journal. “Once we have the approvals, it will take two to three years to start production,” he added.
The company discovered the rich diamond reserves at Bunder in the underdeveloped region of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh way back in 2004. It got a license to prospect the deposits in 2006 and an initial approval for the mining project in 2012. Now, the company is in process of getting environment and forests clearances from Indian authorities, which will pave the way for it to start mining."
IRL Price at posting:
0.6¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
