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Overburden removal (coal)
What it is
Stripping the rock and soil above a coal seam before the coal can be extracted. It consumes the bulk of explosives used in opencast mining, and volumes rise as mines deepen and the stripping ratio worsens
It is the single largest driver of industrial explosive demand in India
Impact on industries
- Demand grows faster than coal output, since deeper mines require more overburden removed per tonne of coal produced
- Coal production targets give multi-year visibility to explosive volumes independent of price cycles
- Ties the industry's largest demand pool to thermal coal, which faces long-term decarbonisation pressure
- Mechanised surface miners can substitute for blasting in some conditions, so technology choice at the mine affects explosive intensity