The Odisha State Pollution Control Board has urged Essar Steel to apply for consent to establish to help start mining activity from its iron ore block in the state. The pollution board was readying to commence public hearing for this mining project and the approval was necessary before the hearing initiates.
Essar Steel has bagged the Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi block in the first ever iron ore auctions held in Odisha after outbidding contenders like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) and Bhushan Steel Ltd, quoting a premium of 44.35 per cent. The block has 100 MnT of high grade iron ore deposits and is supposed to feed Essar Steel’s flagship operations at Hazira (Gujarat).
Essar Steel has proposed a production capacity of 7.16 MnT per annum (mtpa) run of the mine product from the iron ore block. As part of the project, the steel company is also setting up a crushing and screening plant and a beneficiation plant with a capacity of 6.7 mtpa over an area of 139.16 hectares (ha) at Ghoraburhani, Sagasahi and Kalmang villages situated in Sundargarh district.
The Odisha government has issued the letter of intent to Essar Steel after it emerged as the preferred bidder in the first iron ore block offered for e-auctions in Odisha. The block is at G2 exploration stage and located in Koira sector in Sundargarh district.
The mineral concession area is spread over 139.16 hectares (ha) including 20.88 ha forest land, 110.69 ha government land and the balance 7.58 ha private land. Survey of the mineral block has been done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
Currently, Essar Steel runs a 12 MnT per annum (mtpa) iron ore beneficiation plant at Dabuna in Keonjhar district and six mtpa pelletisation complex at Paradeep. The iron ore mine in Odisha is expected to meet 50 per cent of the firm’s pellet making facility at Paradeep.
The pellet produced at Essar Steel’s Paradeep facility is primarily meant for use at its 10 MnTintegrated steel plant at Hazira.
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