Chrome Valley's pollution conundrum

Open-cast mining has ravaged landscapes and contaminated water bodies at the country's largest chrome mining site

No other mineral in India other than chrome ore is to be found in excess of 97 per cent of the identified resource in just one centre. Appropriately then, Sukinda Valley in Odisha, where the country’s leading producers of chrome ore have converged, has come to be known as the Chrome Valley. 

From Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys (IMFA) to the ferro alloys and minerals division of Tata Steel in the private sector to Odisha Mining Corporation and Infrastructure Development Company in the state sector, nine groups operate 11 mines in a cluster in the Chrome Valley next to one another. This way, the mines run the risk of unintentionally trespassing into a neighbour’s domain. That risk is unavoidable when open-cast mining is practised at two mines belonging to separate groups but with common boundaries, say local industry officials. 

But a bigger concern for the government and NGOs is the high level of pollution caused in the process of removal of 3 to 9 meters of overburden using shovels and then taking out the mineral from the ground, all parts of open-cast mining.  Environmentalists are particularly worried about chromium-related contamination of air and water. The Indian Bureau of Mines says in a report that two “major problems” related to chromite mining are “pollution and environmental degradation.” Being carcinogenic in nature, hexavalent chromium, especially in friable ore must at all times be converted into trivalent form, which is non-carcinogenic, by using ferrous sulphate solution.  

No doubt since the introduction of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act in 2015, mines across the board are under pressure to exercise a kind of self-discipline not known before, and the concerned government agencies, too, have become a lot more vigilant about mining activities. Even after all this, the environment surrounding chromite mining areas and water from the mines that finds its way into the natural stream and then onto the Brahmani river will continue to run grave risk of pollution till there is “mass migration to underground mining” in the Chrome Valley. Deaths due to chromium related diseases in Sukinda still remain common. 

Getting global attention

The New York-based Pure Earth described Sukinda valley some years ago as the world’s third most polluted area. This is, however, hotly contested by the Odisha government. All the entities engaged in mining in the valley have invited government censure, including mine closure at one time or the other for breaking environmental laws or bad mining practices. Slaughter mining in the past caused considerable damage to the Mahagiri and Daitari range flanking Sukinda. There are quite a few earnest people either working singly or for NGOs taking on the might of miners. 

Public attention will always stay focussed on Sukinda valley since here almost the country’s entire annual production of over 3.2 million tonnes (mt) of chromite takes place. Small fragmented portions of chromite resources are found in seven other states, including Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. But neither the size nor the quality of deposits in all these states is good for mining on any scale. 

In the meantime, pressure is mounting from within and outside on groups operating at Sukinda Valley to make preparation for underground mining.  Underground mining causes much less disturbances to the environment and its large-scale adoption will be an image booster for miners. It will also boost productivity and help earnings. So far, however, it’s only IMFA which started underground operation at its Mahagiri mine in the valley in January. IMFA Managing Director Subhrakant Panda says, “Experience being gained at Mahagiri will prove useful when in about two years we go for underground mining at our Sukinda mine. We have plans to raise our annual capacity from 600,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes by 2021-22 and then in another three years to 1.2 mt. Underground mining will help in boosting capacity.” 

Weighed down by slowdown

Ferrochrome and in its upstream, chromite, met with tepid demand and low prices globally for a long period ahead of 2016-17 when in its second half there was a sharp turnaround. But that was not enough for most entities to recover fully from the losses incurred in the past. As a result, in spite of the urgency to build facilities for underground mining, most miners are not in a position to go ahead because of financial constraints. Balasore Alloys, owned by PK and Vinod Mittal, has, however, announced that its plan for underground mining at its Kaliapani chromite mines at Sukinda remains unchanged. 

Chromite is the raw material for making ferrochrome, an alloy used in making steel stainless. Chrome ore, electricity and metallurgical coke constitute the major cost elements for the ferrochrome industry. Therefore, groups such as IMFA and Tata Steel, with ownership of chromite mines and power plants, enjoy a cost advantage over the partially integrated and fully non-integrated chrome alloys producers. Standalone furnaces with no mines or power linkages have mostly become swing producers which return to making ferrochrome when prices rule high. 

Ferrochrome is a cyclical industry. South Africa, with ownership of 80 per cent of global ore reserves, remains by far the world’s biggest exporter of chromite, and China, which by using ore imported mostly from South Africa has emerged as the largest producer of ferrochrome. In both chromite and ferrochrome, India has less than 10 per cent share of the world output.  

Many ferrochrome units were built in the country in the past lured by high prices during the up cycle. But the non-integrated furnaces came crashing down when the commodity hit an extended down cycle that ended in 2016-17. It’s no wonder, then, that the industry sitting on very large debts is crying for consolidation, says Panda.