Hindustan Copper Ltd is likely to come out with a tender for appointing Mine Developer cum Operator (MDO) for re-opening and expansion of Rakha Copper Mine in Jharkhand by middle of July. The company had recently conducted a stakeholders’ conference in June to discuss and resolve any queries regarding the re-opening and expansion of the mine.

According to Arun Kumar Shukla, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Copper, the project is likely to entail a capital expenditure of close to ₹2,000 crore spread over the next few years.

“The Rakha mine has been closed since 2,000 and the government of Jharkhand has recently given us consent to renew the lease. We will have to go for other statutory processes including getting environment and forest clearances. Meanwhile, we are looking to engage an MDO for this project as it is very capital intensive and is likely to attract an investment of around ₹2,000 crore spread over the next few years,” Shukla told businessline on the sidelines of the Assocham Indian Mining & Minerals Conclave held in the city recently.

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Hindustan Copper, which had incurred a capex of around ₹385 crore in 2022-23, has earmarked a total investment of close to ₹450 crore during the current fiscal on expansion and development of mines.

The company raised close to ₹500 crore through QIP (qualified institutional placement) in 2021 towards partial funding of Phase I of its proposed expansion from 3.97 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to 12.2 mtpa. It has utilised close to ₹207 crore so far. Its board had recently approved a QIP of ₹500 crore and NCD of ₹500 crore subject to approval of shareholders.

“We have taken the board approval (for fund raising), we will decide whether to go in for raising the same depending on utilisation,” he said.

Ramping up production

Hindustan Copper, which had seen its production stagnating due to shift from opencast mining to underground mining, is expecting 10 per cent growth in production during the current fiscal.

The company had undertaken underground mine expansion in Malanjkhand Copper Mine in Madhya Pradesh where the State government has extended the validity of copper mining lease till August 2043. Now all the mines of the company have gone for underground mining.

Hindustan Copper had also enhanced its focus on depth exploration within its mining lease areas. Meanwhile, with completion of replacement of crusher in the Kolihan mines last year, it is looking forward to uninterrupted and augmented production of copper concentrate in Khetri Copper Complex in Rajasthan.

“The government has recently released list of 30 critical minerals and copper has been included in that. Only 0.3 per cent of the world copper reserve is in India. The per capita consumption of copper in India is one of the lowest at around 500 g per person per year. This needs to be atleast doubled over the next few years. Inclusion of copper in the critical minerals list will give it the due importance,” he said.

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