Hindustan Copper to quadruple mine capacity

HCL's copper ore production fell marginally 3.8 mt as against 3.9 mt during 2015-16

Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) is implementing mine expansion projects to increase production capacity by four times. It is also investing Rs 3,025 crore to set up a plant in Chhattisgarh with a 0.1-million-tonne per annum (mtpa) capacity.

In HCL’s annual general meeting, Chairman and Managing Director K D Diwan, said, “The company’s flagship project, Malanjkhand (Madhya Pradesh) underground mine of five mtpa annual capacity, is progressing well. It is expected that ore production from the underground mine will commence from December 2018.”

It has also appointed a mine development officer for the Banwas mine at Khetri (in Rajasthan) and has received environment and forest clearances for its Kendadih and Rakha mine reopening projects, located at Ghatsila in Jharkhand. 

“HCL’s focus in the next financial year would be to expedite the expansion programme and ramp up the production from Gujarat Copper Project located at Bharuch in the shortest possible time”, he said.

In the past financial year, HCL’s copper ore production fell marginally 3.8 million tonne (mt) as against the production of 3.9 mt during 2015-16. However, sales volume increased by 20 per cent at 28,888 tonnes as against 24,112 tonnes in FY16.