The Hindu Business Line : TIMCO may start Rs 650-cr iron ore mining project next year

Chennai, April 16 The Tamil Nadu Iron Ore Mining Company (TIMCO), a subsidiary of JSW Steel, hopes to start work on the Rs 650-crore iron-ore mining and beneficiation project next year.

According to company officials, TIMCO, a joint venture between Jindal Vijayanagar Steels and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco), plans to invest Rs 400 crore at Kanjamalai, Salem District, where a mining area of over 635 acres has been earmarked with a potential for about 75 million tonnes of iron ore. At Tiruvannamalai it hopes to get over 325 hectares of mining area with a potential of about 50 million tonnes of iron ore; it will invest over Rs 250 crore.

Clearances awaited

Officials said the company has received the approval from the Department of Mines at the Centre for the project at Tiruvannamalai. The next step would be to get the clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. For the Kanjamalai facility, the company is yet to get both these clearances; the State Government is expected to send in the proposal within the next one week.

TIMCO will supply the iron ore to JSW Steel’s Salem works. The low grade ore with an iron content of about 38 per cent will have to be enriched up to an iron content of about 54 per cent before it can be used by the Jindal Steel’s Salem works, they said.

The unit, formerly Southern Iron and Steel Company promoted by LMW, was acquired by JSW in 2004 and merged with itself last year. The iron ore supply would enable the facility to achieve assured supply of iron ore and consider further expansion of production capacities.

Last year, the company had described the mining project as “key” to the growth of JSW’s Salem works. The Jindals intend to double production capacity at an investment of over Rs 3,000 crore. The unit now has a production capacity of one million tonnes a year. Since the acquisition, the Jindals have tripled the capacity to the present level at an investment of over Rs 1,350 crore.

More Stories on : Outlook | Minerals

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page