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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

SAIL to set up iron ore pellet plant at Gua in Jharkhand

Tuesday, 03 May 2011

A top company official told Business Line Steel Authority of India Ltd has decided to set up a 4 million tones per annum pellet plant at Gua in Jharkhand to utilize accumulated fines at a cost of INR 780 crore.

The turnkey contract for installing the plant is slated to be awarded in May. SAIL has received two bids for the contract. The plant is likely to be operational in 2013.

Currently Gua mines have 35 million tonnes largest among all SAIL mines of accumulated fines and generate fines of around 7 million tonnes a year.

According to sources for more than a year SAIL was seized of the idea of a pellet plant. Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel, the R&D unit of SAIL and Mecon as the consultant had studied relevant issues such as location of the plant and whether split or single location in relation to the environment, technology and logistics of carrying fines. Finally SAIL opted for locating the plant at Gua and not at the nearest steel plant site at Bokaro.

The oldest mechanized mine in the country; Gua now extracts nearly a third in hematite grade lumps and the balance in fines.

Gua's current lump production capacity is placed at 2.4 million tones per annum. Under the gradual expansion plan undertaken by SAIL, Gua mines capacity is to go up to 3.15 million tones per annum by the end of this fiscal. By 2014 to 2015 the capacity is slated to move up to 8 million tones per annum including pellets which are substitutes of lumps.

Gua now fourth in the pecking order of capacity among the seven mines SAIL's raw material division controls is planned to catapult to the second slot by 2014 to 2015 and in the post-expansion period to share the top slot with Bolani.

SAIL's raw material division estimates the total capacity of the seven mining areas under its belt at 34.6 million tones per annum by 2014 to 2015. According to the long-term plan two Kalta and Chiria of the seven now operated manually are also to be mechanized.

(sourced thehindubusinessline)

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