Hutti Mines To Triple Capacity

K N Shrivastava, chairman and managing director of HGML, revealed that M/s Svedala, a Swedish multinational, is interested in setting up an additional metallurgical plant with a capacity to process 2,000 tonnes per day (tpd) of gold ore as a turnkey project. He added this will triple gold ore production from the present 910 tonnes per day yielding 1.2 tonnes per annum to 3.8 of gold tonnes per annum.

Apart from it, a new winder will also be installed in the underground mines of the company at Hutti in Raichur district jointly by Bharat Heavy Electricals and Man Gutehoffnungshutte AG of Germany. He said greater mechanisation will be introduced with large diameter blast hold mining.

 

This project will include a captive power plant of 8 MW capacity to meet the additional power requirement, development of satellite gold mines in the vicinity of Hutti, Chitradurga and Kalyadi and conversion of copper unit at Kalyadi to a gold unit. According to the information available, the Karnataka government is going to announce its gold mining policy very shortly inviting multinationals and private participation.

This policy, which has been pending since long time, is now in the final stages. It is estimated the Centre might examine the gold scheme widely prevalent abroad to help various gold companies in the country. Some of the recommendations include preserving Karnataka's rich forests like the Maland region from exploitation and protecting ecology and environment. With multinational companies knocking the doors and the liberalised gold policy on the anvil, it was imperative such a scheme was introduced in India Courtesy: Bullion Bulletin

This will help domestic companies to garner sufficient funds to expand and enhance productivity, helping the nation to conserve precious foreign exchange.