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{{short description|Mine in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
'''Rampura Agucha''' is a [[zinc]] and [[lead]] mine located on a massive sulfide deposit in the [[Bhilwara district]] of [[Rajasthan]], [[India]].<ref name=hzl-ops>{{cite web|url=http://www.hzlindia.com/operations.aspx?ID=2 |title=Hindustan Zinc Limited - Operations |publisher=Hzlindia.com |date=2010-03-31 |access-date=2011-10-23}} (click on "mines" information)</ref><ref name="meta">{{cite journal|last1=Mishra|first1=Biswajit|last2=Bernhardt|first2=Heinz-Jurgen|title=Metamorphism, graphite crystallinity, and sulfide anatexis of the Rampura Agucha massive sulfide deposit, northwestern India|journal=Mineralium Deposita|date=8 October 2008|volume=44|issue=2|pages=183–204|doi=10.1007/s00126-008-0208-0|s2cid=129664597}}</ref> Rampura Agucha is located 220 km from [[Jaipur]]. It is north of [[Bhilwara]], and northwest of [[Shahpura, Bhilwara|Shahpura]]. Rampura Agucha is 10 km southeast of Gulabpura on NH 79.<ref name="hzl-ops"/> The mine is owned by [[Hindustan Zinc Limited]] (HZL), and has the world's largest deposits of zinc and lead.<ref name=hzl-ops/>

==History==
Rampura Agucha deposits were discovered in August, 1977 by T. C. Rampuria, a geologist with the [[Government of India]]'s Directorate of Mines and Geology. [[Hindustan Zinc Limited]] started drilling in February, 1980 and a report regarding the estimate of the deposit was submitted in 1981.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H64sxguvlpMC&q=T.C.+Rampuria&pg=PA291|title=Sediment Hosted Lead-Zinc Sulphide Deposits|last1=Deb|first1=M.|last2=Goodfellow|first2=Wayne David|date=2004|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780849330803|language=en}}</ref> The development of this mine started in 1988 and the first ore production was in March 1991. Rampura Agucha has a combination of [[open pit mine]] and [[underground mine]].

==Geology==
Rampura Agucha is a zinc-lead sulfide deposit that is located in the Sikar belt which is part of the Aravalli-Delhi orogen.<ref name="contrasting">{{cite journal|last1=Hazarika|first1=Pranjit|last2=Upadhyay|first2=Dewashish|last3=Mishra|first3=Biswajit|title=Contrasting geochronological evolution of the Rajpura–Dariba and Rampura–Agucha metamorphosed Zn–Pb deposit, Aravalli–Delhi Belt, India|journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences|date=September 2013|volume=73|pages=429–439|doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.04.047|bibcode=2013JAESc..73..429H}}</ref><ref name="tectonic">{{cite journal|last1=Abu-Hamatteh|first1=Z.S.H.|title=Geochemistry and Tectonic Framework of Proterozoic Mafic Metavolcanics of Aravalli-Delhi Orogen, NW India|journal= Geochemistry|volume=62|issue=2|pages=123–144|doi=10.1078/0009-2819-00016|year=2002|bibcode=2002ChEG...62..123A}}</ref> The Bhilwara belt is mostly [[Metasedimentary rock|metasedimentary]], metamorphosed [[dolomite (rock)|dolomite]] and a small amount of igneous rocks.<ref name="tectonic" /><ref name="Origin" /> The deposit was originally a [[Sedimentary exhalative deposits|sedimentary exhalative deposit]] before experiencing a metamorphic event.<ref name="meta" /> The high grade metamorphic event is theorized to have occurred approximately 1 billion years ago.<ref name="contrasting" /><ref name="Origin">{{cite journal|last1=Höller|first1=W.|last2=Gandhi|first2=S. M.|title=Origin of tourmaline and oxide minerals from the metamorphosed Rampura Agucha Zn-Pb-(Ag) deposit, Rajasthan, India|journal=Mineralogy and Petrology|date=1997|volume=60|issue=1–2|pages=99–119|doi=10.1007/bf01163137|bibcode=1997MinPe..60...99H|s2cid=131667407}}</ref> There are a few sulphides and oxide minerals that form within the ore that are a particular interest, the major one being [[sphalerite]]. Galena, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and marcasite commonly occur with the sphalerite along with some minor arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite.<ref name="Origin" /> Gahnite and rutile are the most common oxide minerals that form within the ore, with rutile being the most abundant.<ref name="Origin" /> Graphite is also a mineral that is commonly found within the ore and surrounding rock.<ref name="Origin" />

==Processing==

Extracted [[Deposition (geology)|deposits]] through drilling, blasting, and underground [[mining]] methods are loaded and taken to be processed while leftover; debris, rock, and other waste, are brought to specific areas for removal.<ref name=hzl-ops/> The first step to processing is feeding the deposits through a [[ball mill]] to broken into smaller material.<ref name="cleaner">{{cite book|last1=Narang|first1=R.K.|title=Cleaner is cheaper : case studies of corporate environmental excellence, volume 5|date=2007|publisher=Energy and Resources Institute|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=978-81-7993-118-9|pages=21–26|edition=Volume 4}}</ref> Further breakdown of the material is then completed through the use of a [[Mill (grinding)|semi-autogenous grinding mill]] an additional three times before specifically targeting the extraction of the [[ore]] from the [[parent material]].<ref name="cleaner"/> The processed material is separated to retrieve the lead and zinc concentrates through flotation methods.<ref name="hzl-ops" /> The different densities of the material allow for the retrieval of the two different metals separately.<ref name="hzl-ops" /> The lead and zinc concentrates are transported to the [[Chanderiya smelter complex]] to further refine the metals collected.<ref name="hzl-ops" /> The Rampura Agucha mine has an ore production capacity of 6.15 lakh [[tonne]]s per annum and in 2017 it was reported that the mine produced 528459 tonnes of lead and zinc.<ref name="hzl-ops" />

===Byproducts===

The process of retrieving the [[ore]] from the [[parent material]] results in a heterogeneous slurry of materials, such as; water, rock, and others, called [[tailings]].<ref name="hzl-ops" /> Tailings have several different impacts on the environment due to the large amounts of [[sulfides]] contained in the waste.<ref name="cleaner"/> This waste is stored in an on-site dam structure after thickening to ensure no contamination to the surrounding environment occurs.<ref name="ecological">{{cite book|last1=Warhurst|first1=Alyson|last2=Noronha|first2=Ligia|title=Ecological management of mining : achieving environmental compliance|date=1999|publisher=Lewis|location=Boca Raton, Fla|isbn=1-56670-365-4|pages=491–495}}</ref> The tailings are treated to neutralize the waste for reclamation purposes through the use of [[calcium hydroxide]].<ref name="cleaner" /> This can allow for the potential use of using the water from tailings to be available for other uses in the mine. The Rampura Agucha mine produced 108000 tonnes per month of tailings waste in the year 2008.<ref name="data">{{cite web|title=Hindustan Zinc Limited Rampura Agucha Mine P.O.- Agucha – 311029 Distt.- Bhilwara (Rajasthan) Form- 1 For Expansion Of Mine and Beneficiation Plant|url=http://environmentclearance.nic.in/writereaddata/modification/PreviousTOR/0_0_27102014XV4F6Annexure-updatedForm1.pdf|website=environmentclearance.nic.in |access-date=26 February 2018}}</ref>

==Environmental effects==

There are several different forms of air [[pollutants]] produced during the mining process including [[Particulates|suspended particulate matter]] and [[Particulates|respirable suspended particulate matter]].<ref name="cleaner" /> Preventive measures are taken to reduce these [[pollutants]] through practices such as using water to reduce dust accumulation during drilling and using several different forms of scrubbers along the mining and processing of the materials to prevent excess release of dust to surrounding areas.<ref name="cleaner" />

The location of the mine has minimal surrounding water reserves for use in the mining process.<ref name="ecological" /> All well water used is located at [[Banas River|Banas river]] bed 60 km away from the mine, which makes a pipeline required to obtain the necessary water for mining.<ref name="cleaner" /> Drains and a 50000 cubic meter reservoir structure were implemented to collect any used run-off water during the mining process.<ref name="ecological" /> Water is also retrieved from the tailings due to the extensive amount of water used during the processing of the extracted material .<ref name="cleaner" /> Retrieval of tailings water is achieved through flocculent additions in tailings thickeners to separate water from the waste material.<ref name="cleaner" /> The reclaimed water is then treated and used in all mining practices as a replacement for fresh water use when possible.<ref name="cleaner" /> Water conservation management of this extent resulted in a zero discharge status of contaminated water, which has reportedly resulted in no groundwater pollution in the surrounding mine site.<ref name="ecological" /> The input of these practices has also shown a decrease in freshwater usage for the mine from 1.36 cubic meters per tonne of metal in 2003 to only 0.66 cubic meters per tonne in 2006.<ref name="cleaner" />

==Recovery of metals==

Efforts have been made to also retrieve low grade zinc and lead found in [[tailings]] through [[bioleaching]].<ref name="cleaner" /> Minimal results have been shown through this method. Although, [[Hindustan Zinc|HZL]] research teams have been attempting to retrieve zinc from these tailings through microwave irradiation.<ref name="microwave">{{cite journal|last1=Krishnan|first1=K.H.|last2=Mohanty|first2=D.B.|last3=Sharma|first3=K.D.|title=The effect of microwave irradiations on the leaching of zinc from bulk sulphide concentrates produced from Rampura–Agucha tailings|journal=Hydrometallurgy|date=2007|volume=89|issue=3–4|pages=332–336|doi=10.1016/j.hydromet.2007.08.007}}</ref> It was concluded that this method showed a greater than 90% extraction of zinc found in tailings.<ref name="microwave"/> This is a much higher recovery of zinc compared to more traditional methods such as [[bioleaching]] and conventional heating.<ref name="microwave" /> This also provides a viable economic retrieval method to be used for the Rampura Agucha mines tailings for zinc.<ref name="microwave" />

== References ==
<references />

{{coord missing|Rajasthan}}

[[Category:Zinc mines in India]]
[[Category:Mining in Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Bhilwara district]]

Rampura Agucha - Revision history

->Mitch Ames: Uncapitalise per MOS:CAPS