Minerals are valuable finite and non-renewable resources that need to be used efficiently and with focus on waste utilisation, said Odisha Governor Dr S C Jamir.

Inaugurating National Conference on Waste to Wealth in Mineral and Metallurgical Industries, organised by the Institute of Metals, Bhubaneswar Chapter, CSIR Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology and Nalco, he said, the minerals sector is no less linked to advances in knowledge and technological capabilities.

Indeed, it is one of the high tech industries of the global economy. Fears of impending scarcity have been overwhelmed by technological progress in exploration, extraction and substitution.

There has been, of late, a renewed focus on minimising waste, when the ever-increasing quantities of waste from energy and materials production and consumption began to have wide-scale environmental impacts.

The conventional waste hierarchy- reduce, reuse, recycle (the three Rs.) lists waste management strategies and approaches to address the environmental impact of wastes.

Waste to Wealth is about creating benefits out of what was traditionally regarded as waste. Each industry is unique in its waste generation spectrum, he said. The waste generated from metallurgical industries and those from mineral industries are accumulating over years and causing serious threat to environment, he noted.

Therefore, waste management and waste treatment are very important measures during mining, extraction, refining and production, beneficiation, waste disposal, site reclamation and mining closure, Governor Jamir added.

Odisha with its huge mineral wealth has witnessed rapid growth in consumption and mineral resources is going to impose a huge effect on the land, forest, air, water and soil besides raising issues of environmental sustainability, he observed.

Prof. S. Basu, Director, CSIR-IMMT, Dr. S.K. Tamotia, Conference Chairman, Dr. R. Bhima Rao, Chairman, Institute of Metals, Bhubaneswar and Dr. A.K.Chaubey, Convener spoke on the occasion. Governor Jamir felicitated Er. K.M. Vyas, Director, BARC and Er. C.K. Asnami, CMD, UCIL on the occasion.