By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Within days after auction, Odisha Government has sent a communication regarding grant of mining lease to Naveen Jindal led Jindal Steel and Power Limited to start operation at its newly owned Kasia Iron and dolomite mine block . The Kasia Mine has a large resource of 278 million tonnes of iron ore and it consists of an average Fe grade of approx. 62.5%.
“The mine has an Environmental Clearance (EC) of 7.5 MTPA,” the JSPL said in a statement.JSPL has been declared as the preferred bidder for the mine at a premium of 118.10%. The e-auction for Kasia Iron and dolomite mineral block was held on September 18 where JSPL bagged iron ore block. The Kasia iron ore mine was earlier owned and operated by Essel Mining & Industries Limited.
“JSPL can resume operations in a short period of time enhancing backward integration for the company in the current financial year itself. This large & high-quality captive iron ore mine provides significant raw material security to JSPL,” it added.
Commenting on the development VR Sharma, Managing Director, JSPl said, “Kasia is a high Fe and low alumina mine, which is located only 17 km away from our Barbil pellet plant. The company has a current crude steel capacity of around 9 MTPA and plans to expand the capacity to approx. 16 MTPA by FY25.”
“Access to this large captive iron ore source, therefore, provides a massive strategic advantage to the company. The company already has plans to use a slurry pipeline from the Barbil region to Angul which will further reduce the logistics cost. There would not be any significant CAPEX requirement, except for statutory payment, as the mine was already operational,” he added.
