NMDC to set up a gold refinery in Tanzania next year

Company was granted mining leases for a ten year period at Bulyang'Ombe gold prospect in 2012

Public sector iron ore mining company NMDC Limited is planning to set up a small gold refinery in Tanzania next year.

"Tanzania exploration is going to complete. We will start mining of gold ore and set up a small refinery next year. We will do a joint venture there and we are in final stage of negotiations in this regard," Narendra Kothari, chairman and managing director of NMDC said on Tuesday. He however did not divulge the details of investment that was going into the project.

It may be recalled that NMDC was granted mining leases for a ten year period at Bulyang'Ombe gold prospect in 2012 across a total area of 38.83 square kms.

Earlier reports suggested that the company had plans to invest at least $ 50 million in the development of these gold mines. It had carried out exploration in the southern region of Lake Victoria and north-western part of Tanzania more than ten years ago before delineating the mining lease areas.

Speaking on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting here, Kothari said the company had drawn up plans to invest Rs 40,000 crore in the next eight years primarily to reach iron ore production target of 100 million tonne as compared with the 30.4 million tonnne capacity .

Apart from developing new mines the the company would also invest in steel plant, its Legacy Iron Ore company in Australia and slurry pipeline among other things, according to him.

The company has so far spent Rs 7,730 crore on the upcoming 3 million-tonne Nagarnar Steel Plant in Chattisgarh. In the recent times the company had set up several special purpose vehicles with other public sector and state government entities in the mineral rich states of Chattishgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Odisha for the develeopment of

Responding to a question on the commodity prices, Kothari said Iron ore prices are expected to hover in the range of $ 55-$65 per tonne for some time due to the subdued global demand for steel.