RINL moving fast to secure iron ore mines in Rajasthan and AP

Wednesday, 18 Jan 2012

BL reported that Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd is poised to obtain its first iron ore mining lease in Rajasthan for relatively low grade magnetite.

It is also expected form an equity linked joint venture with Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation in February for a high grade haematite reserve in Andhra Pradesh.

The CMD of RINL, Mr AP Choudhary, confirmed the developments to BL and said both were likely to take place next month.

RINL's applications for mining leases in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district are at an advanced stage of clearance. According sources, the Rajasthan Government has consolidated RINL's two area specific applications and has decided to allow mining lease rights for 1,043 hectares, out of 5,252.3 hectares applied for. Initial estimates suggest that the total magnetite deposit in the proposed Rajasthan project area, now under consideration, is around 400 million tonnes with an average Fe content of about 41%

In Andhra Pradesh, home state of RINL's steel plant, the company is in the process of getting into a joint venture agreement for exploration and mining of iron ore over an area of 3,400 hectares of land in Anantapur district of the state. The area, spread across Obulapuram and Kalyandurg range, is known to have two haematite deposit bands - one with 60 per cent plus Fe content and the other with 57 per cent plus. RINL had filed application for prospecting licence for the area in October 2011. As APMDC already possesses the right to prospect and explore in the area, it is now decided that a joint venture of the two will carry out the exercise.

(Sourced from BL)

AFISCO to invest INR 375 crore for exploration at Hajigak in Afghanistan

Saturday, 07 Jan 2012

ET reported that a consortium of Indian steel companies led by Steel Authority of India Limited will invest about INR 375 crore in initial exploration for iron ore at Hajigak in Afghanistan.

The exploration will give the Indian consortium, called Afghanistan Iron & Steel Consortium, an indication of the size and grade of reserves, which were last explored in the 60s.

The outlay, which will cover exploration over two years, will be a prelude to an investment of INR 55,000 crore to develop mines, build a steel plant and create infrastructure.

A working level team from AFISCO will visit Afghanistan shortly for talks with the government on the final agreement. The Indian team will also seek the Afghan government's active role in providing road and rail infrastructure outside the mining area, in securing licensing rights and housing for project workers.

Mr CS Verma chairman of SAIL said “We will seek the Afghan government's role in providing safety and security cover to Indian personnel. Since Afghanistan is on a negative list, the security factor will weigh critically before we make any investments. It will also help when the consortium seeks funding from multilateral financial institutions.”

Mr Verma said “While road and rail links within the project area will be our responsibility, we would want the Afghan government to provide infrastructure support outside the project area up to the nearest international port.”

The consortium, which has JSW Steel, JSW Ispat, JSPL, RINL, NMDC and Monnet Ispat as the other members, will hold a separate meeting to work out the issues.

(Sourced from ET)

Rajasthan to grant mining rights to RINL and SAIL

Monday, Jan02, 2012


JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government has decided to grant iron ore mining rights to two public sector units - Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) - in Bhilwara. Rajasthan industries and mines minister Rajendra Pareek told ET that the state government is sending proposal to central government for the allotment of mines to these two PSUs. "We have earmarked 864.6 ha for SAIL and 1043 ha mining area for RINL. We will allot them mines once we get the nod from central government," he said.

The two PSUs are likely to invest Rs 4000 crore in Bhilwara for creating 5 million tonnes mechanized iron ore mining capacity at Bhilwara. "Once the mining rights are granted, the state will get 2 million tonne per annum greenfield steel plant, 1.8 million tonne per annum pelletisation plant and one miilion tonne per annum sponge iron plant. These projects are likely to create 2000 direct jobs and over 20,000 indirect employment opportunities," he said.

Apart from these two companies, steel pipemaker Jindal SAW is also setting up a beneficiation plant in the same geography to produce approximately 6,000 tonnes of concentrate per day. It has executed a mining lease agreement for 30 years with Rajasthan for iron ore mines having approximately 180 mn tonnes of reserves of various categories of iron ores.

The iron ore mines of Bhilwara were discovered way back in 1967. But the ore in the area is of magnetite grade, yielding only about 30-35% recovery which is lower than that mined in Karnataka and other states. It had kept steel companies away from these mines for long. Now companies are taking interest after the Rajasthan government has assured linkages to limestone from Jaisalmer and dolomite from Jodhpur.

(sourced ET)

Steel ministry sets up coking coal procurement panel

Friday, 02 Dec 2011

ET reported that steel ministry has set up a committee to look into the need for rationalising the procedure followed by steel PSUs for procurement of coking coal.

Mr Beni Prasad Verma steel minister said that "A committee has recently been constituted in the ministry for looking into the need for rationalising the procurement procedure for coking coal, acquisition of mines abroad and optimising the use of coking coal by steel PSUs.”

Replying to a question on whether the government was aware that during the last two years, SAIL and RINL have made purchases of coking coal at a time when the price was very high in international markets, he said this was a commercial decision of the companies.

The minister said that "This (procurement) is done as per their requirements under a laid down policy through long term agreement. As per international market practice, quantities under LTA are settled annually by the empowered joint committee which comprises representatives of both Steel Authority of India and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam.

"While negotiating quantities and prices with long-term suppliers, EJC takes the FOB (free-on-board) prices settled by Japanese steel mills and others as reported in the international journals as the benchmark.”

The minister added that "The annual requirement is tied up at the beginning of the year and the same is confirmed and received quarter-wise throughout the year.”

Mr Verma said prices of imported coking coal were up by 75 per cent in 2010-11 vis-a-vis the previous fiscal, affecting the profit margins of steel-makers.

(Sourced from ET)

Coal minister assures all help to RINL for coal blocks allocation

Friday, 04 Nov 2011

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal minster for coal appreciated the initiatives and efforts of RINL in expanding its capacity from the present 3 million tonne per annum to 6.3 million tonne per annum and also its future expansion program to 20 million tonne per annum.

He lauded the progress and growth of RINL. The Minister assured RINL CMD all possible needful help in the allotment of Coal blocks to the Company as RINL has no captive Coal blocks.

This assurance came from the union minister when Mr AP Choudhary CMD of RINL and Mr TK Chand, Director (Commercial) called on Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal in New Delhi.

Mr Choudhary briefed the union minister about the plant’s performance, its growth plan and future expansion program of the Company. Mr Choudhary impressed upon the union minister the need to allot both Coking Coal and Thermal Coal mines to RINL as RINL-VSP is going for massive expansion.

(Sourced from PTI)

Indian consortium hoping to be preferred bidder

Thursday, 08 Sep 2011

The bid submitted by a consortium of Indian steel and mining companies, led by Steel Authority of India Limited, for mining concessions of the Hajigak Iron Ore Mines located near Bamiyan in Afghanistan is among the six bids opened by the ministry of mines of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Structure of Indian consortium
SAIL - 20%
NMDC - 18%
RINL - 18%
JSW - 16%
JSPL - 16%
JSW Ispat - 8%
Monnet Ispat & Energy - 4%

The consortium has bid for all the four blocks at Hajigak offered by MoM, Afghanistan. Announcement of preferred and reserved bidders is expected to be made by Afghanistan on or about October 4th 2011.

As per the Request for Proposal issued by MoM, Afghanistan there will be total and annual exploration expenditure requirements over at least a three year period with annual minimums of USD 5 million or more. Bids will be evaluated on various parameters related to bidding company's credentials and benefits accruing to Afghanistan such as royalty, commitment towards corporate social responsibility, etc. Emphasis has been laid on development plans which proposes expansion from iron mine/processing facilities with transport assets to vertically integrated processes including making steel. However, the weightage assigned to individual parameters has not been disclosed by the MoM, Afghanistan.

Upon receiving the news of bid opening, Mr CS Verma chairman of SAIL said that "This is the first time that Indian public and private sector companies have come together to jointly bid for an iron ore asset abroad. With Afghanistan holding strategic interest for India, we hope that our endeavor to obtain mining licenses there will be a stepping stone towards the larger objective of contributing to the much-needed economic growth of the country. This will pave the way for more such collaborative efforts in the future by Indian companies for obtaining raw material assets in other countries."

The five other bids submitted by parties from various countries for the include ACATAC, LLC of the USA (3 blocks), Behin-Sanate Diba of Iran (4 blocks), Gol-e-Gohar Iron Ore of Iran (1 block), Kilo Goldmines Ltd. of Canada (1 block) and Corporate Ispat Alloys Ltd of India (1 block).

RINL to get iron ore mining rights at Rajasthan - Report

Tuesday, 26 Jul 2011 |By ET

ET citing, 2 people directly involved in the development, reported that government is close to granting mining rights to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam at Bhilwara in Rajasthan.

As per report, RINL will get 350 million tonnes of iron ore.

Iron ore in Bhilwara has a ferrous content of about 45% to 50%.

Earlier this year, Jindal Saw entered into an agreement with Rajasthan giving it rights to at least 180 million tonnes of ore with a ferrous content of about 30%.

Indian mining majors look to diversify into steel making

Tuesday, 19 Jul 2011

BL reported that large miners such as NMDC, MOIL and Sesa Goa are set to transform into metal and alloy producers as part of their forward integration strategy.

Analysts feel there is a rush to set up steel plants as mineral rich States such as Karnataka and Chattisgarh are looking at value addition as a pre condition for grant of new mining leases and renewal of existing ones.

Mr Bhavesh Chauhan analyst at Angel Broking Ltd said that “Mining firms realise that if they have to get additional mining leases, they need to set up steel plants.”

Miners, however, look at diversification as the next logical step for them, while analysts feel that the move would hurt the miners' profitability.

NMDC's plans
NMDC, the country's largest miner, is in the process of setting up a 3 million tonnes per annum unit with an investment of INR 15,000 crore at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh. NMDC has also formed a joint venture with Russian steel maker OJSA Severstal to set up a 5 million tonnes per annum specialised steel unit in Karnataka.

An analyst said that “Profitability, the world over is much stronger in the mining business as compared to the processing business. In case of these firms, the impact will be felt over the next couple of years, when their proposed steel units will be commissioned.”

Sesa Goa's buy
Sesa Goa, which operates major mines in Karnataka, recently acquired the assets of Bellary Steel and Alloys Ltd in Bellary for INR 220 crore. BSAL was building a 0.5 million tonnes per annum unit and has 700 acres of land in Bellary.

However, the BSAL acquisition has been challenged by JSW Steel in Supreme Court, which has directed the parties concerned to maintain status-quo till the next hearing.

The Vedanta Group company is expanding its pig iron capacity in Goa, besides planning to set up two small steel mills ranging from 1 to 1.5 million tonnes per annum in Orissa and Jharkhand, where it has prospecting licence to carry out mining operations.

MOIL's units
MOIL, the country's largest manganese miner, is in the process setting up two ferroalloy units through joint ventures with SAIL and RINL. It is likely to be operational in June 2012. Ferro alloy is a key raw material for producing steel.

The proposed ferroalloy plant with SAIL in Chhattisgarh will have a capacity of 106,000 tonne, while the one with RINL in Andhra Pradesh will produce 57,500 tonnes.

(sourced from BL)

Coal Min turns down RINL request to swap coal blocks

Friday 11 March 2011, 1:01 PM

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The Coal Ministry has turned down the request of state-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) for swapping two of its coking coal blocks in Jharkhand with other reserves.

"As regards allocation of alternative coal block(s), there is no policy/guidelines for allocation of alternative coal block in lieu of surrendered coal block," the ministry said on its website.

RINL, whose two coking coal blocks in Jharkhand -- Mahal allocated in 2005 and Tenughat-Jhirki allocated in 2008 -- were de-allocated by the Coal Ministry at the beginning of this month, had earlier requested permission to surrender these blocks in lieu of two alternative blocks in the region.

Instead, the Coal Ministry has asked the steel firm to apply afresh for coal blocks.

"RINL is at liberty to apply for blocks as and when applications for a fresh list of coal blocks (are invited)... The request will be considered along with other applications, as received then, as per the... guidelines for allocation of coal blocks," the ministry said.

The Coal Ministry had cancelled the allocation of two coking coal blocks having reserves of about 500 million tonnes in Jharkhand to RINL as the steel firm had difficulties in developing the block.

As per the Steel Ministry, not only were the coal seams deep-seated and intermeshed with gaseous deposits, obstructions in the form of railway lines and nearby rivers also existed, the ministry had said.

The Mahal block has deposits of 258 million tonnes of coking coal, while the Tenughat-Jhirki block holds an estimated 215 million tonnes of coal.

It added that both blocks involved a high investment and production cost. Moreover, RINL has not met the milestones for developing the blocks.

Gangavaram port, An Indian modern port creates record

March03, 2011

Gangavaram Port, the deepest and the most modern port in India creates yet another record by discharging 65349 MT Coking Coal in 24 hours.

Gangavaram Port, the deepest and the most modern port in India, has created yet another milestone record by discharging 65349 MT Coking Coal in 24 hours from Panamax Vessel “MV WELSUCCESS” , according to an E-Mail received received by COALspot.com from Konnections on behalf of Gangavaram Port.

This vessel was handled at the Port on account of Rashtryia Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). This discharge rate achieved is more than three times the discharge rate achieved at any other Indian Port.

The e-Mail furhter said, Gangavaram Port, in the past, has achieved numerous such operational milestones and has today redefined the economics of bulk cargo handling at Indian Ports. With 5 deep draft berths, GPL has handled more than 28 Million MT cargo since commencement of operations. The port has successfully handled more than 600 vessels including more than 45 fully laden capsize vessels of average size of 150,000 DWT. The vessels handled at GPL include the largest bulk vessels to have ever called at any Indian Port. The port ensures almost nil pre-berthing delay ensuring congestion free and efficient port operations. The Port handles a range of commodities such as Coking and Non-Coking Coal, Iron Ore, Limestone, Bauxite, Steel Cargo, Raw Sugar, Project Cargo, Slag and Scrap.

Gangavaram Port with its deep draft berth and the latest state of the art mechanized cargo handling systems has redefined port operational standards in India resulting in substantial and unprecedented benefits to the importers/exporters on account of savings due to reduced ocean freight and efficient cargo handling services.

About Gangavaram Port:
Gangavaram Port is the most modern and the deepest port in India located at Visakhapatnam, the industrial nerve center of Andhra Pradesh Please visit www.gangavaram.com

(sourced:coalspot)

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RINL demand for iron ore mines in AP rejected

Saturday, 26 Feb 2011

Mr Beni Prasad Verma minister of state for steel has said that Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited had applied for grant of 2 mining leases in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the same have been rejected by the Andhra Pradesh government on the grounds that these two mining leases were granted to earlier applicant ie Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today he said that in October, 2006, October, 2010 and November, 2010, RINL has submitted applications for Prospecting License for three iron ore reserves in the state of Andhra Pradesh. These are:

1. Raidurg Section of Obulapuram Village in Anantapur District

2. Bayyaram Reserve Forest & Motlatimmapuram Reserve Forest of Kothagudem Division, Khammam District

3. Guduru reserve Forest of Warangal Sub Division, Warangal District.

RINL unveils further expansion plans

Monday, 07 Feb 2011
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited on Sunday unveiled investment plans to expand its capacity to 8.4 million tonnes per annumof steel in the next five years.
Mr PK Bishnoi CMD of RINL told media persons in Bhubaneswar that RINL would add an additional production of 3 million tonnrs steel with an investment of INR 12,500 crore from the next fiscal.
He said “We will add another 1 million tonne of steel with an investment of INR 7,000 crore from the year 2013-14. We will appoint a consultant in next ten days for this purpose. It will increase the company’s capacity to 7.3 million tonnes.”
Mr Bishnoi said that the company plans to produce4.4 million tonnes of high quality steel of with an investment of INR 25,000 crore from the financial year 2014-15 because the consumption of steel will go up with the urbanization of India.
He added that “After expansion plan of RINL, we want to set up new steel plants in Orissa, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. We have signed a MoU with the Karnataka based Kudurnor Iron Company Ltd for setting up a steel plant.”

Indian steel makers in race for Afghan mines

Thursday, 20 Jan 2011

PTI reported that leading private and state run steel firms including TATAs, Essar and SAIL are among the 14 Indian companies that have evinced interest in developing the Hajigak mines, containing an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore, in Afghanistan.

The war torn country had invited an Expression of Interest to develop the mine, which it said is a part of its huge proven reserves worth an estimated USD 3 trillion.

Mr S Vijay Kumar mines secretary told PTI that "Fourteen Indian companies including TATA Steel, SAIL, Essar, NMDC and RINL have responded to the EoI floated by the Afghan government to develop its Hajigak mines.”

He said “These companies may bid for the assets up for offer in consortia or may go it alone in the upcoming auction. They will take a call in this regard after the Afghan government announces the modalities for the bidding round.”

Afghanistan had invited EoIs for multiple exploration concessions falling within the Hajigak mines. The last date for submission of EOIs was January 13. The Afghan government had said the selected bidder will be granted the concessions under Afghan Mineral Law.

Sourced from www.deccanherald.com and PTI