OMC seeks govt nod to use adjacent chrome mine area to dump waste

Move to help state-run miner to boost chromite output by 50%

The state-owned resource company, Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has sought government permission to dump overburden produced at its South Kaliapani chromite mines in adjacent Sukrangi chromite mines to help it produce more ore in coming days.

The South Kaliapani mines of OMC currently produces about 800,000 tonne chrome ore a year and it has permission to step production upto 1.4 million tonne. But due to non-availability of space to dump the overburden generated during excavation, the miner is not able to increase production.

"If the government grants us the permission to dump waste from South Kaliapani mines in adjacent Sukrangi mines, which is only 4 km away, we could ramp up production by another 400,000 tonne easily," said an official of OMC.

The production ratio of ore to overburden is 1:3 at South Kaliapani. This translates into about 2.5 million tonne overburden for production of 800,000 tonne ore, which would require nearly 3 ha area for storage.

Though OMC has applied to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for diversion of adjacent land near South Kaliapani, it wanted to use nearby Sukrangi mines to dump overburden as the approval from the Centre would take more than two years.

The state-run miner pleads for early permission from the government as it intends to apply to Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) soon for increase of its mining output limit. The company needs to show IBM that it has enough area to store overburden and excavate more ore.

Nearly all of India's chrome ore is produced in Odisha. Apart from few small merchant chrome miners like B.C. Mohanty and Mishrilal and Company, OMC caters to over 70 per cent of chrome ore requirement in the country

Very few players such as Tata Steel, Indian Metal and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), FACOR and Balasore Alloys have also their captive mines in the state. Chrome ore finds its usage primarily in stainless steel industries, apart from its use in refractories.