Associated Soapstone Dist Co undertakes Talc Mining. Emphasis is placed on advance planning of the mines to ensure systematic mining from the point of view of optimum ore extraction. The organisation has more than 10 mining leases and 15 mines at different locations in the state of Rajasthan: these account for an annual production of 1.5 lakh MT. The crude from these mines is well known all over the world for its purity and brightness and these operating mines have millions of tonnes of proven deposits of high quality which can be explored for a long time to come. With the development of these mines, the organisations present production will approximately double. The entire process is mechanised - excavators, dumpers, down-the-hole drilling machines are used along with a well developed blasting practice. A fleet of well-cleaned and maintained dumpers are used to transport ore with different qualities separately for ore sorting and stockyards. Application: paper; ceramics; paints and coatings; plastics; cosmetics; soaps and detergents; pharmaceuticals; animal feed and many other.