The new iron ore lessees in Odisha who are operating mines that were auctioned last year are failing to maintain required ore dispatch volumes resulting in stockpiling of minerals at mine leaseholds, state government sources intimated SteelMint.
Undisposed volumes
The Director of Mines, Odisha, has sent an urgent dispatch notice to the Deputy and Joint Director of Mines of the state’s Joda, Jajpur Road and Koira mining circles as well as the Mining Officer of the Baripada circle to ensure that the new lessees abide by dispatch norms and that stacking guidelines are being strictly adhered to for storage of ore and minerals at leaseholds.
The new lessees are required under the mine development and production agreement (MDPA), and in conformity with rule-12(A)(1) of MC Rules, 2016 to maintain production level so as to ensure minimum dispatch of 80% of the average of the annual production of two immediately preceding years.
The Director of Mines has called attention to the fact that some of the new lessees have obtained permission for dispatch of very large quantities of iron ore from their mines but actual dispatch figures are far less. This goes to show that huge quantities of undisposed minerals are accumulating at mine sites.
The Directorate of Mines seeks to ensure compliance, therefore, that stacks are actually made and placed at designated spots within leaseholds permitting enough room for seamless movement of machinery and mining equipment between the existing stacks.
Stacking norms
By way of clarifying the problem, the Director of Mines has highlighted the case of JSW Steel’s Jajang iron ore mine. As on 20 Jun’21, the total permission for dispatch of iron ore from the mine was over 8.9 mn t, while actual dispatches were recorded at over 6.9 mn t, leaving a balance undisposed stock of 2 mn t within the lease area.
The lessee is availing stack size of 4,000 MT and the total number of stacks of 4,000 MT required to store the undisposed mineral is a staggering 501. It is indeed a huge number, as the Director has pointed out. However, the volumes of undisposed iron ore at JSW Steel’s Narayanposhi and Nuagaon mines in Odisha are much less at around 0.34 mn t and 0.17 mn t respectively, government data shows.
It deserves to mention that the state government has amended the Orissa Minerals (Prevention of theft, Smuggling and Illegal Mining and Regulation of Possession, Storage, Trading and Transportation) Rules, (OMPTS), 2007 to allow miners a five-fold increase in the size of stacks for sampling iron ore before evacuation. The government has also suggested high-tech methods of ore sampling that miners are required to abide by. Incidentally, any discrepancy in following prescribed stacking guidelines, or seeking immunity from prescribed norms, would result in the lessee having to pay royalty at the highest grade of iron ore.
The Mines Directorate of the Odisha government has sought compliance in regard to stacks being built at the designated spots at the leaseholds, as per mining plan, and dispatch done strictly in adherence to the stacking and sampling process prescribed under the provisions of rule-10(7) of OMPTS Rules.
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