Government-run Indian steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will invest $540 million in the eastern state of Jharkhand, the bulk of which will go to expanding its captive Gua iron ore mine from 4 million mt per year to 10 million mt per year, a company official said on Tuesday, August 31.
The investment will be completed within the next three years. The announcement was made at an investors’ conference organized by the Jharkhand government.
Part of the investment has also been committed to set up a 4 million mt per year capacity pellet plant linked to the Gua iron ore mine, the official said.
SAIL operates a 6 million mt per year Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) in Jharkhand and investment will be made for adoption of green technologies and modern balancing equipment, the official said.
The official stated that increasing the capacity of the Gua mines will entail deeper mining, which in turn will yield lower quality ore necessitating beneficiation facilities to improve the quality of the ore produced from the mine. The beneficiation plant along with the pellet plant is expected to improve the Fe content of ore from 61 percent to 63 percent.
