JSPL to start mining at Kasia mine within a month: MD V R Sharma

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) aims to start mining at Kasia iron ore block within a month, its Managing Director V R Sharma said.

The integrated steelmaker on Thursday announced bagging of the block, which has total reserves of 278 million tonnes (MT).

Speaking with PTI, Sharma elaborated on the company's plans with respect to starting operations at the Kasia iron ore mine, located about 17 km from JSPL's pellet plant in Barbil.

"It is already an operational mine, we can start mining within a month once all statuary approvals are there," the MD said.

He said JSPL will also put up a slurry pipeline from the pithead to its steel plant in Angul. This will help the company with 5-6 million tonnes of iron ore per year.

The e-auction for the Kasia iron and dolomite mineral block was held on September 18, 2021. It was earlier owned and operated by Essel Mining and Industries.

JSPL has been declared as the preferred bidder for the mine at a premium of 118.10 per cent.

The mine has a huge resource of 278 MT of iron ore with an average iron grade of about 62.5 per cent.

This large and high-quality captive iron ore mine provides significant raw material security to JSPL.

JSPL, an O.P. Jindal Group firm, has a significant presence in the steel, power and mining sectors with investments worth Rs 90,000 crore across the globe.