V.V. Mineral, one of the largest miner and exporter of beach sand minerals, has allayed fears of huge quantities of monazite tailings having been shipped out of the country.
It said the amicus curiae had submitted a high-pitched report with allegations that were demonstrably incorrect.
J. Muthu Rajan, managing partner of V.V. Group, said the export of monazite was not possible because of stringent measures in place.
He said there was no demand for monazite since China, Brazil and Australia were supplying enough of it.
He recalled that before 2010, all exports of beach sand minerals by private miners/exporters had to be accompanied by monazite test certification (MTC) issued by the Atomic Minerals Directorate, which had to certify that the minerals, intended to be exported, did not contain anything more than trace elements of monazite.
In 2010, with the advent of superior testing technologies, all of the ports were equipped with radiation testing machines known as Geiger Counters, which would detect radiation levels of any exports and not just beach sand. Since then the requirement of MTC had been abolished and radiation testing at the customs frontier was introduced. “There is absolutely no chance of any person exporting any radioactive substance past the radiation testing machines,” he said.
Mr. Rajan pointed out that IAS officer Satyabrata Sahoo’s report pointed out that no miner but for the public sector company Indian Rare Earths had stored the mineral monazite as such.