Hindalco likely to restart ops at Aus copper mine by 2010-end

Aditya Birla Group company Hindalco today said it hopes to restart operations at its copper mine in Mount Gordon, Australia, by end-this calender year.

"The Australia mine which is now under maintenance will be restarted on account of higher international prices," Hindalco's Managing Director Debu Bhattacharya told reporters here.

The company's Atlanta-based unit Novelis will increase its capacity by 20 per cent by 2014. Novelis is a global producer of aluminium products.

"Our Atlanta-based unit Novelis will increase its capacity through brownfield expansions of plants in emerging markets," Bhattacharya said.

He, however, did not divulge details of the unit's present capacity.

Hindalco's net profit rose 26 per cent at Rs 433 crore for the quarter ended September 30 on the back of an improved realisation and better product and geographic mix.

The company had posted a PAT of Rs 344-crore in the year-ago period.

The company is setting up a 359 KTPA aluminium smelter along with a 900 MW captive power plant in Orissa at a total cost of Rs 9,200 crore.

The company is planning a refinery project of 1.5 Mio TPA along with a 90 MW co-gen plant, replica of the Utkal Alumina refinery in Orissa. The investment would be around Rs 6,000 crore and this will be commissioned in FY 14, Bhattacharya said.

The Rs 10,000 crore Jharkhand Aluminium Project would have a 359 KTPA aluminium smelter, along with a 900 MW captive power plant in Sonahatu for which land has been acquired.

The tubed coal mine has been allotted to the company jointly with Tata Power. It is planned for commissioning in FY 14, he said.

There are several brownfield projects such as the expansion of the Hirakud Smelter from 155 KTPA to 161 KTPA which is nearing completion. A further expansion from 161 KTPA to 213 KTPA, along with a 100 MW power plant will be completed in Q4 FY 12, he said.

Hindalco plans to expand the smelting capacity at Hirakud from the proposed 213 KTPA to 360 KTPA with a corresponding increase in back-up captive power from the proposed 467.5 MW to 967.5 MW.

Hirakud Flat Rolled Products Project is underway for the transfer of all key equipment from the Novelis Plant at Rogerstone, UK, to Hirakud. The project is slated for completion in Q2 FY 12, he said.