UCIL to extract uranium from Hindustan Copper’s tailings

State-owned UCIL will establish a recovery plant in Jharkhand to extract uranium from Hindustan Copper tailings, boosting India’s domestic uranium supply for nuclear energy and defence. The partnership also aims to convert mining waste into a strategic resource with environmental and economic benefits

New Delhi: Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), a public sector company under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), will set up a recovery plant in Jharkhand to extract uranium from tailings of State-owned Hindustan Copper, a top official said on Sunday.

The move would help in augmenting domestic supplies of the strategic mineral used in nuclear power and defence applications.

---

In an interview with PTI, Hindustan Copper Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sanjiv Kumar Singh said that the copper PSU has reached an understanding with UCIL under which tailings will be handed over to the Uranium Corporation of India to extract uranium.

Copper tailings are finely ground waste rock and water that remain after copper minerals are extracted from mined ores.

Singh said, “UCIL was concerned with our proposal and technically agreed because there is a presence of uranium in small quantities in our tailings, which they can extract”.

UCIL will process the tailings and, after extracting uranium, return the treated tailings to HCL, he said. The process will take time because UCIL operates under the DAE and follow atomic-energy clearances and protocols, the CMD said.

Industry experts believe that the agreement could have both strategic and environmental benefits.

Recovering uranium from tailings can provide an additional domestic feedstock for the country’s civil nuclear programme and reduce reliance on imports. “It also converts a waste liability into a resource besides addressing legacy environmental management.” The country is aggressively pushing for expanded uranium production and international sourcing to support India’s nuclear power target of 100 GW by 2047.

Hindustan Copper Ltd on Friday reported a 137.3 per cent surge in net profit to Rs 444.27 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, on the back of higher revenue. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 187.18 crore in the year-ago period for the same period.

Hindustan Copper Ltd has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 7,188.90 crore over the next five years for the expansion of its mines.