RANCHI: Coal is not known as a beautiful mineral. But in an innovative step, the black sedimentary rock used as fuel will be presented before the world in a new form. Following an initiative of the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad, coal is used for making necklaces, earrings and other decorative items.
According to scientists, these beauty products made of black carbon are not only useful and light, they are also strong and durable. These products will be made available on CIMFR's e-portal Gramin Market. According to CIMFR director Dr Pradeep Kumar Singh, coal waste is used to make these products with an intention to add value to local resources, which are available in the region in abundance.
"Under a project related to social upliftment and skill development of women in mining areas funded by CSR-CIMFR, we have developed a technique through which coal waste is processed in such a way that it can be given different shapes and developed into jewellery and decorative items. It is processed in such a way that it does not catch fire or break easily," he said.
The ‘coal crafting’ process involves using pieces of coal, coal dust and a binder to hold it together. Under this initiative, one gram of coal can be sold for Rs 500 after it gets converted into jewellery. "It will help economical upliftment of coal mine based women," said Singh.
"I got an idea to use it for art and craft of jewellery as it is done with shells found near seashores," said Principal Scientist Dr Selvi. After processing coal waste, she developed a form which could be given different shapes.