Kathmandu, March 31
The Department of Mines and Geology has issued permits for extraction to 159 mines to explore at different times. The license is given for extraction in various places in the country. Although 152 such authorisations were issued before this, seven more permits have been given in this current fiscal year, said Narayan Banskota, the Information Officer at the Department.
Similarly, the Department has provided licenses for the exploration of 522 mines. It had issued 359 such authorisations before this. The Department has issued the license for an additional 63 mines.
According to Banskota, the licenses have been issued to excavate iron, copper, gold, limestone, granite, ruby, and dolomite, among other potential minerals.
Meanwhile, the Department has cancelled the licenses of 107 mines and companies for their failure to carry out work on time. The department has monitored and inspected 82 mines in the current fiscal year. The Department has collected Rs 333 million and 200 thousand as revenue for issuing licenses for mine excavation and exploration over the last eight months of the current fiscal year.
It had collected Rs 356.633 million as revenue from the issuance of licenses in the same period last fiscal year, Banskota said.
