The Hindu Business Line : Govt developing air-borne system for uranium deposits

Survey system
Various PSUs and R&D units of the DAE are jointly developing the system.
The technology is expected to be ready by the middle of 2007.

URANIUM OXIDE

New Delhi , Jan. 8

India is indigenously developing an airborne survey system to identify the presence of uranium deposits located below the ground level. The move is aimed at increasing the pace of such discoveries in the country.

The technology, called the Airborne Time Domain Electromagnetic Survey System (AEM), would utilise a chopper or low flying aircraft-mounted survey device and is extensively used in major uranium exporting countries such as Australia and Canada.

"The system is being developed as an alternative to imported systems that are being used now and the development is being done jointly by various Public Sector Undertakings and R&D units of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It is being spearheaded by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration & Research. The technology is expected to be ready by the middle of 2007," government officials involved in the exercise said.

The airborne electromagnetic surveys carried out from low flying aircraft are capable of detecting geological structures not visible on the surface, including uranium deposits. The flight height of AEM systems above the ground ranges from 30 to 120 metres.

Most systems generate primary electromagnetic fields by using a loop transmitter, while conducting coils are used as antenna to measure the secondary magnetic field caused by conductive inhomogeneities in the ground. The frequency used in AEM surveys (of between 100 hertz to about 50 kilo hertz) allows ground penetration in excess of 100 metres. To establish the uranium deposit, about five to eight years of time is required depending upon the geological complexity of uranium mineralisation.

Places identified

The DAE has identified Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya and Rajasthan for new domestic uranium projects. The country has an established uranium oxide reserve of 1,17,800 tonnes, according to the latest estimates, while indigenous uranium reserves available in the country can support a capacity of 10,000 MWe.

In order to increase the pace of uranium mining in the country, the Centre has already initiated the process of involving the private sector in uranium mining. The Government has proposed a private-public partnership model for exploration and exploitation, with the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd holding not less than by 26 per cent shares, with management control by majority stakeholders.

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