One of India’s leading steel mills, JSPL, has bagged the Kasia iron ore block in the ongoing mines auctions in Odisha at a premium of 118.1%, SteelMint learnt from sources.
There were seven technically qualified bidders for the Kasia iron ore and dolomite block with the highest bid being put at 95.6% in the first round. The companies which had cleared the technical round were Essel Mining, Tata Steel, Electrosteel, AM/NS India, Rungta Mines, MSPL and JSPL.
High premium
Notably, JSPL had offered a 144% premium for the Guali iron ore mine (having an EC limit of 5.7 mn t pa) at the 2020 auctions but failed to pay the first installment following which the mine was allocated to state government-owned miner OMC.
Also, JSPL had enjoyed a long-term supply contract with Sarda Mines whose lease expired on 13 Aug’21. All these factors had increased JSPL’s dependency on the merchant iron ore market and winning the Kasia mine could come as a relief to the steelmaker that will ensure its long-term raw materials security, SteelMint understands.
Essel Mining and Industries was the existing lessee of the Kasia iron and dolomite block. The mine has an area of 194.196 Ha with explorations done up to G1 level. The mine has total geological resources of 278.04 million tonnes (mn t) of iron ore (having average Fe grade of 63.2%) and 0.693 mn t of dolomite ore.
Odisha’s Department of Steel and Mines expects to complete the auction process by end-Sept’21 and after the current tranche of 11 mineral blocks, the government may auction another five blocks as composite leases.
The state government is expected to announce the technically qualified bidders for the other mines gradually in the coming days.
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