NMDC Ltd, the country’s largest iron ore merchant miner, has begun prospecting activities for lithium in Australia’s Mt Bevan region through its partner, Hancock Prospecting Pty.

The exact quantum of deposits are yet to be determined, said sources aware of the development

NMDC, through its 100 per cent owned Perth-based subsidiary, Legacy, has entered into an MoU with Hancock Prospecting for mining of lithium in Australia. Depending on the quantity of lithium reserves mined, Hancock will be granted a stake in Legacy, not exceeding 49 per cent. Hancock’s stake in Legacy would be upped as reserves/ mined lithium increase.

NMDC is a CPSE under the Ministry of Steel.

A prospecting activity incidentally determines the location, probable quantity and life of minerals and mines. It necessarily does not mean mining activities commence. From the prospecting stage to the actual mining of mineral, the time span could be anywhere from 2-5 years or more.

“Prospecting activities have commenced. In fact, NMDC through Legacy entered into a prospecting and mining agreement with Hancock; and MoUs were finalised / signed some four to six months back,” an NMDC official told businessline, requesting anonymity.

It could take anywhere between 12 and 15 months for the studies / prospecting activities to be complete.

EV transition

Lithium, a non-ferrous, alkali mineral, is critical for India as the country looks at pushing EVs. Lithium-ion batteries are critical for EV transition, both in the public and private transportation space.

The miner (Legacy) has reportedly also been offered to carry out prospecting activities elsewhere in Australia for probable lithium reserves.

Other prospecting activities that Legacy is carrying out, with Hancock, include exploration and mining of rare earth and other critical minerals such as copper, tungsten, cobalt and nickel.

This is in addition to the iron ore mining that will be carried out. A gold mine could also be operationalised in Australia too.

In India, NMDC has already obtained a prospecting licence to carry out exploration activities for lithium reserves in Karnataka. Work is yet to begin. Australia is among the top six lithium producers in the world. The new other nations include Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, the USA and China.

India is completely import dependent for its lithium requirements. Its only official find so far is to the tune of 5.9 million tonnes in J&K and currently price determination for auctions are being carried out by the Ministry of Mines.

Nagarnar commissioning delayed

According to the official, commissioning of NMDC’s recently de-merged steel unit, at Nargarnar in Chhattisgarh, has been further delayed following a software glitch at the plant.

The 3.5 million tonne per annum plant was expected to go on-stream by end of June, after failing several deadlines.

“Engineers are working on the software. So it could be anywhere between 48 and 72 hours for it to be restored; or maybe a few days. But once that happens, the blast furnace will be fired up and the steel plant will go on-stream,” the official added.

Coal and gold mines

NMDC was also looking to foray into gold and coal mining and the company is on-course to secure a lease for the Chigargunta-Bisanatham gold block in Andhra Pradesh.

The block is expected to have around 1.83 million tonnes of reserves (and 5.15 grams of gold per tonne).

“There was a court stay that was vacated and so it should take us some 4-5 years to get the mines operational again,” an official said.

Two coal blocks, obtained through the confession route, in Jharkhand are also on course to be operational. Land acquisition is currently underway.

The Tokisud North thermal coal block is likely to be operational in 12 to 24 months; while Rohine coking coal block will be operational in another 2 - 3 years.

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