Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), a Central sector PSU under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), has sought permission from the state government for rare earth mining on a coastal stretch at Bramhagiri in Puri district.
“We have submitted an application to the Odisha government seeking prospective license for rare earth mining in the coastal areas of Bramhagiri in Puri district”, said chairman-cum-managing director of the IREL, RN Patra here The company has sought mining rights on over 2500 hectares area.
The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMDER), Hyderabad, a constituent unit of DAE has conducted survey and found huge deposits of rare earth minerals in the coastal stretch of Puri.
The identified area is the second coastal stretch in Odisha, where deposits of rare earth minerals have been found. IREL is already harnessing rare earth deposits over 24.64 sq. km area near Chhatrapur in Ganjam district through its subsidiary Odisha Sands Complex (OSCOM).
OSCOM is producing heavy minerals like ilmenite, rutile, zircon, silimanite, garnet and monazite from beach sands, which are used in manufacturing of white pigment, ceramics, polishing glass, TV tubes etc and are in high demand in the international market.
“There is a good deposit of rare earth minerals in the Bramhagiri stretch” said IREL chief, who was in Chhatrapur to attend the Independence Day celebrations at OSCOM plant.
OSCOM runs a Mineral Separation Plant (MSP) of 2.20,000 tonnes capacity to produce ilmenite and other associate minerals. IREL has decided to expand the capacity of OSCOM. Besides, IREL has a mineral division at Chavara, Manavalakurichi, while its rare earth division is located at Aluva in Kerala.