NMDC to involve pvt players in iron ore mining

National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has decided to involve private parties in the excavation of iron ore from its proposed new 11 B block in Bailadilla mines. NMDC has huge iron ore mines in Bailadilla.

During the last fiscal, NMDC dispatched around 16.3 million tonnes of ore from Bailadilla mines. The dispatches include around 4.5 million tonnes of ore exports to Japan and China by Minerals and Metal Trading Corporation (MMTC).

In the old mines No 5 and No 14 the ore production is diminishing year-by-year. In this backdrop, NMDC has decided to start production in another block to meet the growing iron ore demand.

"To avoid the huge investments for opening the new block '11 B', the corporation has invited private parties to install the ore excavation machinery on their own. The corporation will pay lease to private parties. We expect some quantity of ore from this new mine by end of this fiscal," said a senior official of the corporation.

NMDC is targeting 5-10 per cent growth in ore dispatches from Bailadilla to meet the increasing demand from local steel units like Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Hy-grade pellets, Vikram Ispat Industries and Ispat Industries Limited.

"During the first quarter of current fiscal, we had supplied 12.62 lakh tonnes of iron ore to MMTC for exports to Japan and China, 13.49 lakh tonnes to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, 9.21 lakh tonnes of ore and Calibrated lump ore, 3.20 lakh tonnes to Ispat Industries Limited and 1.51 lakh tonnes to Vikram Ispat. NMDC itself exported one lakh tonnes of low grade ore to China," the official said.

During the last fiscal, NMDC opened a new mine '11 C' and spent more than Rs 350 crore on installation of ore excavating machinery.

However, the production is yet to stabilise and at present NMDC is producing around 7,000 tonnes per day. It expects to produce around 20 lakh tonnes during this year.