NMDC set to bag mining lease in Jharkhand

NMDC Limited is set to secure mining lease for Sansangora deposit in Jharkhand. The company, which had already obtained mining lease for Kumaraswamy deposit in Karnataka and deposit-11B in Bailadilla (Chhattisgarh), expects to increase its production by 65-70 per cent with these new and existing mines in the next three to four years.

“As part of our forward integration programme and value-addition, we have planned to set up a 3-million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant in Chhattisgarh, two pellet plants of 2 mtpa and 1.2 mtpa capacity respectively – one each at Bacheli in Chhattisgarh and at Donimalai in Karnataka. Besides, a beneficiation plant for extraction of high-grade iron ore concentrate will be set up,” Rana Som, chairman and managing director of NMDC, stated in a release here.

None of these projects will be put on hold. On the contrary, work on all the projects will be expedited to take advantage of low cost of materials on account of recession, he added.

NMDC is also looking for new mines in Karnataka to support its proposed 10-mtpa steel plant. It has already entered into joint ventures with state-owned J&K Minerals Limited for magnesite mine in Jammu and Kashmir and would develop a limestone project in Arki, Himachal Pradesh, initially with SAIL.