Monday, May 02,
SAIL’s Gua mines, the largest among all SAIL mines in Jharkhand has 35 million tonnes of accumulated iron ore fines.* To utilize the accumulated fines SAIL has decided to set up a 4-million tonnes-per-annum (mtpa) pellet plant at Gua at a cost of Rs 780 crore.
The contract for installing the plant is to be given in May. SAIL has received two bids for the contract. The plant is likely to be operational in 2013.
The oldest mechanized mine in the country, Gua now extracts nearly a third in hematite grade lumps and the balance in fines.
According to sources, for more than a year SAIL was seized of the idea of a pellet plant. Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel (RDCIS), the R&D unit of SAIL, and Mecon as the consultant had studied relevant issues, such as location of the plant, environment, technology and logistics of carrying fines. Finally, SAIL opted for locating the plant at Gua and not at the nearest steel plant site at Bokaro, the other close option.
Leave a Reply