By: Ajoy K Das
26th July 2012
KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has approved an investment of $534-million to increase the capacity of its Gua captive iron-ore mine, in Jharkhand, to ten-million tons a year from its current 2.4-million tons a year capacity.
A techno-commercial report for increasing capacity of the Gua reserves was currently under way and contracts for development would be awarded in October 2012, an official in the Steel Ministry said.
The Gua mine investment was part of SAIL’s strategy to emerge as India’s largest iron-ore miner within the next 18 months, pipping NMDC Limited to the second position.
Sail chairperson C S Verma has said that the steel producer would achieve iron-ore production of 42-million tons a year over the next one-and-half years, with hot metal production of 24- million tons compared to current iron-ore production capacity of 25-million tons a year for hot metal production of 16-million tons a year.
NMDC, currently the country’s largest iron-ore producer, would increase production to 40-million tons a year over the next three years.
Verma was the chair of both SAIL and NMDC.
While the Gua mine, which was commissioned in 1958, had a reserve of some 142-million tons, the operation has only produced around 2.4-million tons of ore, since several of the blocks did not have forest and environmental clearances. This caused SAIL to suspend operations in June 2011.
The steel company had submitted fresh applications for forest and environmental clearances, including a wildlife conservation plan, since the Gua reserves were part of the vast Saranda forests in Jharkhand.
Significantly in a related development, Jairam Ramesh, economist and Rural Development Minister, has sought a complete ban of iron-ore mining in the mineral rich Saranda forests, except by government-owned SAIL.
Saranda, earlier a hot-bed of left wing extremists, was now a target of a $44-million Saranda Development Plan, and entry of private mining would once again unleash propaganda that the plan was a ruse for entry of private mining and exploitation of locals, the minister argued in defense of seeking a mining ban in the region.
Supplies from the Gua mine were critical for SAIL’s units Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) and ISCO Steel Plant (ISP), in neighboring province of West Bengal. SAIL was nearing completion of increasing capacity of DSP from 1.6-million tons to 2.12-million tons a year.
Meanwhile, SAIL-Kobe Iron India Private Limited, a joint venture between SAIL and Kobe Steel, has finalised an investment of $268-million to construct a 500 000 t/y iron nugget plant at DSP.
The nugget plant would include a pelletisation plant for processing iron-ore fines supplied from SAIL’s Gua mine.
Edited by: Esmarie Swanepoel
26th July 2012
KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has approved an investment of $534-million to increase the capacity of its Gua captive iron-ore mine, in Jharkhand, to ten-million tons a year from its current 2.4-million tons a year capacity.
A techno-commercial report for increasing capacity of the Gua reserves was currently under way and contracts for development would be awarded in October 2012, an official in the Steel Ministry said.
The Gua mine investment was part of SAIL’s strategy to emerge as India’s largest iron-ore miner within the next 18 months, pipping NMDC Limited to the second position.
Sail chairperson C S Verma has said that the steel producer would achieve iron-ore production of 42-million tons a year over the next one-and-half years, with hot metal production of 24- million tons compared to current iron-ore production capacity of 25-million tons a year for hot metal production of 16-million tons a year.
NMDC, currently the country’s largest iron-ore producer, would increase production to 40-million tons a year over the next three years.
Verma was the chair of both SAIL and NMDC.
While the Gua mine, which was commissioned in 1958, had a reserve of some 142-million tons, the operation has only produced around 2.4-million tons of ore, since several of the blocks did not have forest and environmental clearances. This caused SAIL to suspend operations in June 2011.
The steel company had submitted fresh applications for forest and environmental clearances, including a wildlife conservation plan, since the Gua reserves were part of the vast Saranda forests in Jharkhand.
Significantly in a related development, Jairam Ramesh, economist and Rural Development Minister, has sought a complete ban of iron-ore mining in the mineral rich Saranda forests, except by government-owned SAIL.
Saranda, earlier a hot-bed of left wing extremists, was now a target of a $44-million Saranda Development Plan, and entry of private mining would once again unleash propaganda that the plan was a ruse for entry of private mining and exploitation of locals, the minister argued in defense of seeking a mining ban in the region.
Supplies from the Gua mine were critical for SAIL’s units Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) and ISCO Steel Plant (ISP), in neighboring province of West Bengal. SAIL was nearing completion of increasing capacity of DSP from 1.6-million tons to 2.12-million tons a year.
Meanwhile, SAIL-Kobe Iron India Private Limited, a joint venture between SAIL and Kobe Steel, has finalised an investment of $268-million to construct a 500 000 t/y iron nugget plant at DSP.
The nugget plant would include a pelletisation plant for processing iron-ore fines supplied from SAIL’s Gua mine.
Edited by: Esmarie Swanepoel
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