SESSION - II - NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR DIMENSIONAL STONE QUARRYING

Mr. K.P.Lall, Advisor, TPPC, Ministry of Mines, Government of India informed about the joint initiative of Ministry of Mines, Government of India and UNIDO for modernization of sandstone block mining using latest technology.

Mr. Paolo Marone, Director, ISIM, Italy, Dr. S.C Jain Asst. Prof., Maharana Pratap Univ. of Agri. and Tech. Udaipur and Dr. S S Rathore, Head, Maharana Pratap Univ. of Agri. & Tech., Udaipur shared their views on use of variable speed wire saws in modern quarrying practices. It was informed that by using a variable speed wire saw a lot of saving can be achieved on part of time, money, power, water and labour. Further it also enhances cutting efficiency. It was further informed that the research is underway and on completion, the findings would be made available to the industry for wide spread benefit to the units engaged in quarrying of marble.

Mr. Montefiorri, Director Garrone, Italy displayed how the normal limitation of 3 meter maximum cut of chain saw has been improved to 7 metres and that to possible without the use of water.

Dr. Rathore shared the results of his research done in the lab on piece of kota stone. He told that with the help of notched holes in stones using detonating cards, stones can be broken/splitted with least damage. Many participants were of the view that research may be undertaken for various types of stones from different areas and findings may be made public for the benefit of the trade.

Dr. Rajan Babu, Scientist Incharge Dimensional Stone Laboratory, NIRM, Kolar touched upon the issues related with risk associated with dimensional stone granite quarrying in Indian context. He further suggested applicability of suitable mining technologies for various types of rock deposits and also emphasized on training of work force so that the right users could use best available technologies.