Demystifying mining plan documents and entering data into KOMPAS

The Rules mandate that mining should be done as per the approved mining plan, scheme of mining and final quarry closure plans. Provision have been given in KOMPAS portal to upload mining plan and other documents. Since mining has to be done as per approved mining plans, improper entry of mining plans in KOMPAS may lead to undesired actions by the lessee which can not be reverted.

Since, Geologists are under various scanners, any error detected in future may make Geologists answerable. So utmost care should be taken to approve mining plan and related documents and to enter the mining plan data into KOMPAS.

2. Types of mining plan documents

In KMMC Rules, three types of documents are mentioned, namely

1. Mining Plan with progressive mine closure plan

2. Scheme of Mining

3. Final quarry closure plan

The lessee can request geologist for submission of modified documents and if geologist find that the request is genuine, then the modified documents can be approved. Similarly, Geologist can instruct lessee to modify mining plan document.

So, following additional documents are also submitted, namely

1. Modified mining plan with progressive mine closure plan (Rule 56)

2. Modified scheme of mining (from Rule 68, it can be seen that modification of scheme is permitted)

3. Modified quarry closure plan (Rule 60)

3. Entry of data of different types of mining plan documents

1. Mining Plan with progressive mine closure plan

Mining plan with progressive mine closure plans are prepared for the entire period of lease. If the area is very large, in the mining plan submitted, RQP shall find out the total resource and mention that the life of the mining. Large area mines may have resource for mining up to 30 or more years. RQP can mention that during the lease period the lessee would mine a specific quantity and balance quantity will be mined by renewing the lease.

So, the period of mining plan with progressive mine closure plan is the period of lease (Rule 67(1)). However, KMMC Rules clearly mentions that the lessee has to give separately the scheme for first five years specifying the area he proposes to excavate (Rule 55). It is also mentioned that the lessee has to give tentative scheme for the next five years also (Rule 55). So in a mining plan submitted for 12 year lease, there shall be following details:

1. Scheme of mining for first five years

2. Tentative scheme of mining for next five years.

In order avoid confusion, it is clarified that a mining plan with progressive mine closure plan contains a scheme of mining for the first five years. A scheme of mining is nothing but mentioning the quantity a lessee proposes to mine and from which benches such mining would take place.

It is noticed that in mining plans, the RQP gives production plan for 12 years. There is no harm in giving the scheme for 12 years, but the first five year scheme is what a geologist should be bothered about.

2. Modified mining plan with progressive mine closure plan

In KMMC Rules, it is not mentioned what all details should be there in a modified mining plan. However, from the information gathered from IBM and as per the existing KMMC Rules, it can be concluded as follows:

· A modified mining plan is submitted as per the instruction of the geologist. For example, the lessee has made gross violation of the mining plan (for example –excess production than the approved scheme) and geologist is not in a position to allow mining for the balance scheme period.

· A modified mining plan is submitted when there is a major error in the approved mining plan (for example, mineable reserve shown in mining plan exceeds what is actually present in the mine). This case does not arise if proper scrutiny of mining plan is done at the time of approval of mining plan

· In the modified mining plan also RQP has to give the scheme of mining for first five years and tentative scheme of mining for next five years. It may be noted that first five means, the first five year period mentioned in the original mining plan.

Eg: A mining plan was prepared for 12 years and mining started on April 1^st of 2015. So the first five year scheme is for the period:

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

If the geologist ask the lessee to modify the mining plan in August 2018 or the lessee wanted to modify the mining plan in August 2008 then they can do so. In the modified mining plan, reasons for modification, mining already done etc. should be mentioned. In the modified mining plan, scheme of mining should be limited to original scheme of mining.

2015-16 – Proposed production- 50000 Production as per KOMPAS - 40000

2016-17- Proposed production- 50000. Production as per KOMPAS – 49000

2017-18 – Proposed production- 50000.Production as per KOMPAS – 45000

2018-19 – Proposed production -50000. Production as per KOMPAS -20000 – Modified production proposed – 80000

2019-20 – Proposed production -50000 Modified production proposed -80000

Year	Mining Plan (Document 1)	Modified Mining plan (Document 2)	Actual production	Remarks
2015-16	50000		40000
2016-17	50000		49000
2017-18	50000		45000
2018-19	50000	80000	20000
2018-20	50000	80000

It is very important to note that each plan document has to be entered separately which means, if a modified mining plan is submitted, then in KOMPAS, the modified mining plan is to be entered separately. After entry you can see previous documents and at the bottom of the mining plan entry screen, you can see based details of actual approved scheme. In the above case, in view mining plan you can see the following:

Year	Document	Proposed production	Actual production	Remarks
2015-16	1	50000	40000
2016-17	1	50000	49000
2017-18	1	50000	45000
2018-19	2	80000	20000	View of mining plan after entry of modified mining plan in August 2018
2019-20	2	80000

Note: It is observed that due to some programming issues, at present the document no 2 is appearing as document 1. This correction has been intimated earlier.

Commonly observed mistakes in data entry

Editing of approved data	When a modified mining plan is submitted, instead of entering it as new document, existing mining plan is modified by deleting the old data
Result	There is no record of previous scheme of mining and actual mining carried out. Mismatch in data. It will appear as if mining started only on a later period of time. Old approved mining plan document disappears.
Example: Scenario mentioned above	View mining plan scheme will appear as follows: 2018-19 - Proposed 80000 – Actual 20000 2019-20 – Proposed 80000- Acutal 0 2020-21- Proposed 40000 – Actual 0 2021-22 – Proposed 50000- Actual 0 2021-2023- Proposed 30000-Actual 0
What mistake was made	The person entered the data edited original mining plan and entered scheme of mining for next five years (sometimes even more) and old plan details and scheme and actual production missing in mining plan
What KOMPAS do	KOMPAS permits mining till 2023 March
Legal issue	The geologist is permitting the lessee to mine mineral without submission of statutory document “Scheme of mining” which could be interpreted as dereliction of duty.
Resolution	Since there is no possibility of time travel, there is nothing a geologist can do about the past actions. Geologist can seek the help of NIC. However, all data entry of mining plan in KOMPAS can be reviewed with the help of PMU staff to make sure that the data entry is proper.

3. Scheme of Mining

Scheme of mining is to be submitted for the next five years (financial years). In KMMC Rules, scheme is mentioned as review of mining plan. The scheme will contain the following:

1. What was proposed during the first five year scheme or previous scheme period (for the scheme submitted for year 11 and 12)

2. What was actually done during previous five years

3. What is proposed for next five years (or 2 years in case of 2^nd scheme of mining)

So when a scheme of mining is submitted, it is entered as a new document (in the example cited above, it is document number 3. After entry of scheme of mining, in this case, there will be two previous documents namely- mining plan and modified mining plan.

After entry of scheme of mining, in the view mining plan window following scheme will appear:

Year	Document	Proposed production	Actual production	Remarks
2015-16	1	50000	40000
2016-17	1	50000	49000
2017-18	1	50000	45000
2018-19	2	80000	55000
2019-20	2	80000	78000
2020-21	3	60000		Viewed after Scheme of entry in April 2020
2021-22	3	60000
2022-23	3	40000
2023-24	3	40000
2024-25	3	50000

Modified scheme of mining

It is very rare to have this scenario (this sort of scenario arises only when the mine was not visited for the entire period of mining and all of a sudden geologist want to modify the scheme as only little balance is left for mining). Suppose a modified scheme is submitted in May 2023. Then in this scheme of mining, the production proposal till 2024 is to be submitted and entered. After the entry, following will be the view mining plan window:

Year	Document	Proposed production	Actual production	Remarks
2015-16	1	50000	40000
2016-17	1	50000	49000
2017-18	1	50000	45000
2018-19	2	80000	55000
2019-20	2	80000	78000
2020-21	3	60000	55000
2021-22	3	60000	45000
2022-23	3	40000	35000
2023-24	4	10000	4000	Compounded for illegal mining (80000)
2024-25	4	10000

5. The final quarry closure plan

There is a provision to enter the final quarry closure plan. It is entered as final document and in case, the quantity of final year is different (on account of excess mining), the same can be entered and the document will appear as document number 5.

6. On expiry of lease

On expiry of lease, if one check the view mining plan window, he will be able to see full details of scheme of mining in one screen and each document can be viewed separately (text, annexure and map)

The data entry shall be done by a clerk.

Mining Plan data entry screen and important buttons/links

Disclaimer:

The author assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this report. The information contained in this report is provided on an "as is" basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness.