Iron Ore News; Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Calls For Export Ban

Iron Ore News; Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Calls For Export Ban

The Indian state of Chhattisgarh is to seek a ban on the export of iron ore.
The state’s Chief Minister, Raman Singh, told the IANS news agency that he was re-iterating calls for a ban, which he first made six years ago.

“It is not a wise decision at all to hand over the country's limited natural resources,” Chief Minister Singh said.

“Export of iron ore is a kind of crime against the nation because the country's limited stocks are getting exhausted everyday. It must be preserved for domestic steel industry which is on a massive expansion.”

The call came ahead of a meeting of a 10-member ministerial panel headed by the country’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee this Thursday to consider a new bill for the development and regulation bill of mines and minerals.

India is the world’s third-largest iron ore supplier, exporting around half of its 226 million tonne annual output but calls for a ban have grown in the wake of reports of illegal exports of iron ore, especially from Karnataka. Left-wing parties this week called for a ban while the country’s Steel Minister, Vir Bhadra Singh is also in favour of a ban.

Steel Minister Vir Bhadra Singh last week came out in favour of a ban, saying the country should conserve its precious minerals and export value-added products.

Cyclone Set To Hit India's East Coast

Refineries, Gas Fields And Ports on Alert

A cyclone over the Bay of Bengal is set to hit India's east coast on Thursday, putting on alert refineries, the country's biggest gas field and facilities for iron ore exports and coal imports.

The storm – known as Laila - would lash the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of 20 May with gusts of up to 135 kilometres per hour.


Officials at the Gangavaram port in Andhra Pradesh, a major hub for coal imports, said they were watching the situation although they were hopeful that operations wouldn’t be much affected.


Officials in Orissa state have also issued an alert although the cyclone is likely to be weaker by the time it reaches the Paradip port.

Sahara Chosen For Mali Iron Ore Mine

Indian Company Expects 50k MT per year

India’s Sahara Mining has been chosen to mine iron ore deposits at Moribabougou in Mali, the Malian Mines Ministry announced on Friday.

The ministry says iron ore reserves are evaluated at 91 million tons. Sahara says it expects annual output of 50,000 tons which will be exported through Dakar in Senegal, 1,350 km away from the mining site. The site itself is close to the Mali capital of Bamako.

The Moribabougou project requires an investment of US$40.83 million, the ministry’s statement said.

The project will create over 1600 jobs.

India's Iron Exports "Around 100mn Tonnes"

MMTC Official Puts Levels Similar To Last Year

A senior official in a state-run Indian company says he expects the country to export around 100 million tonnes of iron ore in the current financial year, which began in March.

"India's iron ore exports in 2010-11 are expected to be about 100 million tonnes," MMTC Chairman and Managing Director Sanjeev Batra told reporters on Friday.

The country exported about 105.67 million tonnes of iron ore in 2008-09, and figures for the last financial year are expected to have been in a similar range in the last financial year, Federations of Indian Mineral Industries Secretary General R K Sharma said.

Mr Sharma added that the recent increase in export duty on iron ore lumps to 15 per cent from 10 per cent may reduce its exports by 50 per cent. India exported around five million tonnes of iron ore lumps during 2008-09.

The export duty on iron ore fines, which comprises the bulk of iron ore exports, is 5 per cent.

Mr Batra also said that MMTC is likely to import 200 tonnes of gold in the current financial.

India's total gold imports for 2009-10 were 739 tonnes, of which MMTC imported 190 tonnes.

AERB To Consider Action Against Delhi University

Fresh Fears Over Cobalt-60 Pencils

India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) will meet soon to decide on the action to be taken against Delhi University in the wake of the recent cobalt-60 scare in the city.

The board has received a response to its request for information from the university after an irradiation machine containing the cobalt-60 was sold to a scrap dealer in the city. A number of cobalt-60 pencils are still missing.

The resultant leak of cobalt-60 caused the death of one person and the hospitalisation f seven others.

Dr Ompal Singh, secretary of the AERB, said it was ‘‘too early’’ to comment on the the university’s response. However, senior officers at AERB and BARC said they had found “discrepancies”.

‘‘We are waiting for the police to investigate the auction and those involved in it. We will collaborate the two reports before taking a final decision,’’ a board member told The Times of India.

An AERB team visited Delhi University on Monday to check levels of uranium near the university’s science laboratories.

‘‘We have received a communication from the Mumbai headquarters of AERB stating that searches are still going on. A final report will be sent to us only when the entire process is over,’’ said DCP (North) Sagarpreet Hooda.

It is believed that the lead cover of the gamma irradiator -- in which the radioactive metal was kept -- was melted at a furnace at Rewari in Haryana by a scrap dealer and there are fears that some of the cobalt-60 pencils had fallen into the “wrong hands”.

The Delhi government has directed all medical establishments in the city to dispose of radioactive material strictly as per rules and regulations framed by the AERB.

India Raises Iron Ore Lumps Tariff

Export Tariff Doubled To 10 Per Cent

India’s government has raised the export duty on iron ore lumps to 15 percent from 10 percent,Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in the country’s parliament on Thursday.

The move is designed to make more iron ore available for domestic steel makers, who are currently facing a shortage in ore supplies and higher prices.

India raised the duty on iron ore lumps in December to 10 percent from 5 percent. The duty on fines will remain at 5 per cent.

It is likely that India’s exports to China will suffer as a result of this move. India was the third largest supplier last year to China – the world’s largest steelmaker- but exports of 33.36 million tonnes between January and March of this year made it the second largest supplier, after Australia but ahead of Brazil.

New Delhi Police Find Source of Cobalt-60

Source Was Scrapped Machine from University

Police in New Delhi Police said it has traced the origin of the radioactive Cobalt 60, which has led to the death of one person and the serious illness of seven others, to scrap sold by the Department of Chemistry at the University of Delhi in February.


According to the police, the Cobalt-60 was in a Gamma Irradiator, which the University's Department of Chemistry bought in 1968 from Canada and which had been in disuse since 1985.


The radioactive material was found in a metal scrap shop in the Mayapuri district of the city. The shop owner and his assistants are among those affected by exposure to it.


The irradiator was sold off with other unused material in an auction on 26 February this year, when it was bought by a scrap dealer in Mayapuri, Harcharan Singh Bhola. He, in turn, removed the iron part from the cell and sold the lead to another scrap dealder, Giriraj Gupta.

Gupta further dismantled the irradiator and sold the lead to other scrap dealers but keeping part of the iron scrap himself. This was removed by Bhola reached Deepak Jain through Rajender, who died on Monday.

On April 8 the city authorities were informed about people suffering burns and other symptoms associated with exposure to a radioactive source.


Experts from the Department of Atomic Energy and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) were ultimately able to recover and secure eight sources of different intensity from the shop as well as a godown owned by Jain. Two more sources were later recovered from the shop of Gupta.

India Hikes Iron Ore Lumps Tariff

Fines Tariff Remains Unchanged

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said there will be a minor increase in the export duty on iron ore lumps to discourage shipments, though duties on iron ore fines will remain unchanged.

There had been fears of a rise in the duty rates on both iron ore fines and lumps to 20 per cent. The government at present levies an export duty of 10 per cent on iron ore lumps and 5 per cent on iron ore fines, though sources were unable to confirm or deny reports that the duty on lumps could go up by another 5 per cent.

"There will be no increase in the export duty on iron ore fines, but there will be a marginal increase in the export duty on lumps, which we are in agreement (with other ministries)," Sharma told reporters.

Last week, officials from the steel, mines, commerce and finance ministries discussed the issue of a rise in the export duty on different types of iron ore.

The Steel Ministry wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last month seeking a two-fold hike in the present duty structure. The ministry wants to discourage outward dispatches as it is of the view that the vital raw material for steel making should be retained for domestic consumption.

In 2008-09, iron ore exports amounted to 106 million tonnes, about 85 per cent of which were fines.

Indian Man Dies Of Radiation

Doctors 'Give Up' On Other Patients

Doctors treating radiation exposure patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi say they have given up hope after the death of one of the patients.

Rajender Prasad, 35, a worker at a shop in the city’s Mayapuri scrap market, died after multiple organ failure at around 9.30pm local time at the AIIMS on Monday. He was moved there on April 13 from the city’s DDU hospital.

"He developed bilateral pneumonia and was exhibiting signs of kidney and liver function impairment. He was put on a ventilator on April 24," a doctor treating the radiation victims said.

According to doctors, another radiation victim Ram Kalap is critical and his blood counts have reduced significantly. He has been put on prophylactic antibiotic and anti-fungal agents.

"We have given up hope on other patients. It's only a wait and watch situation," says the doctors treating the radiation exposure patients.

"After one patient's death yesterday, all other patients are very depressed, we are now counselling them," the doctors added.

"There is hardly any literature on how to deal with radiation patients, that's our handicap. Cancer of the thyroid and blood pose serious danger for these patients," the doctors added.

Four other radiation exposure patients are still admitted in AIIMS, while Deepak Jain, the owner of the scrap shop from where radioactive material Cobalt-60 was recovered, is at the Apollo Hospital. Another patient Ajay Jain is undergoing treatment at Army Research and Referral Hospital.

Ten sources of Cobalt-60 had been found in the Mayapuri scrap market earlier this month and eight persons were hospitalised. One of them has since been discharged.

Coal India To Sign Vizag Port Deal

Coal India To Sign Vizag Port Deal

Coal India Ltd (CIL) is expected to sign a deal to acquire space at Vizag Steel’s port in Visakhapatnam.

CIL Chairman, Partha Bhattacharya, , said the company is looking to go in for joint venture or acquire parts of existing ports rather than setting up its own.

“We are more or less close to signing a deal with Vizag Steel to start with. RIL/RINL has moved out of Vizag Steel so that space has been offered to us and we have accepted it for our imports. Compensation needs to be discussed. A 4-5 million tonne capacity would be available to us at any point in time,” he said.

CIL is also in talks with other ports, including Gangavaram, Dhamra, Krishnapattanam, and Kandla and is also looking at coal-bed methane and coal mine gasification projects, though Mr Bhattacharya said water contamination problem was a concern.


“As long as there is no definite solution (to the water contamination problem) we can’t risk it because we don’t have coal in barren places. But if there is any technology evolving anywhere in the world, we will take it. We are seriously looking at underground coal gasification projects,” he said.

Coal India Ltd. may also spend $1.7 billion to buy stakes in five mines in Australia, Indonesia and the U.S. to help bridge a shortfall in Asia’s third-biggest energy consumer.

India May Increase Iron Ore Export Duty

New Duty Expected to be 20 per cent

In a move designed to curb iron ore exports, India’s Government looks set to increase the tax on iron ore exports. The tax is likely to be fixed at a uniform rate of 20 per cent across all iron ore products, said a Steel Ministry official. Current rates are 5 per cent on iron ore fines and 10 per cent on high-grade iron ore lumps.

India’s Steel Secretary, Mr Atul Chaturvedi, said. “The tax structure on iron ore exports was discussed between different ministries today. We understand that the export tax on iron ore lumps may go up. A decision on increasing the tax is likely to come as early as this Friday.”

Officials from the Ministries of Finance, Mines and Commerce met on Thursday to discuss the issue of increasing the export tax.

The Standing Committee on Coal and Steel also urged the Ministry of Steel to take up with the Ministry of Finance the issue of curbing iron ore exports and expressed its concern that iron ore reserves may last only till 2021-22.

MCC, HZL Said To Be In Running For Anglo Zinc Business

Bid Expected To Realise $1 Billion

Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd (MCC) and Hindustan Zinc are said to be in the running for the $1 billion worth of zinc assets put up for sale by miner Anglo American Plc.

MCC has recently begun to expand its overseas mining assets. An anonymous company official told the newspaper China Daily that "We intend to capitalize on the commodity price rally and the Anglo bid is in line with our strategy."

Most of MCC’s mining assets are located overseas. In February 2010 the company paid $200 million for a 5 per cent stake in Australian miner, Resourcehouse Ltd in a deal which saw it agree to buy coal from Resourcehouse and a 10 per cent stake in the China First coal project.

Hindustan Zinc is although thought to be bidding for the assets. The company recently became the world’s largest zinc miner and sources within the business have told the Indian press that the company is working on a bid.

Anglo American's zinc assets include the wholly owned Skorpion and Lisheen mines in Namibia and Ireland and a 74 percent interest in the Black Mountain mine in South Africa.

Orissa To Release Mining Policy Plan

5% Royalty Likely To Be Imposed

The government in the Indian state of Orissa government is to release policy guidelines regarding mining in the state.

The policy, which is aimed at developing and regulating the local mining industry, will focus more on the non-ferrous sector and comes at a time when issues such as illegal mining and land acquisition have come to the fore.

Industries to be affected by the guidelines are expected to below volume, high value non-ferrous minerals like gold, nickel, platinum and beach sand, however, the ferrous sector is likely to be affected by guidelines on the profitable use of low grade ores by using state-of-the-art technology in the benefication, sintering and pelletising process.

The state government has decided in principle that a royalty of 5% will be used for the development of people living mining areas. A committee has been formed to formulate the policy for the implementation of this decision.

Orissa has 17% of India’s total mineral reserves with 174 million tonnes of nickel ore, 82 million tonnes of beach sand minerals, 1,802 million tonne of bauxite, 180 million tonnes of chromite, 5,305 million tonne of iron ore and 65,353 million tonne of coal. There are also deposits of cobalt, copper ore, dolomite, lead & zinc ore, limestone, tin ore.

Coal India Nearing Peabody Mines Deal

$1 Billion Deal Being Finalised

Coal India Limited is nearing a $US1 billion deal with US miner Peabody Energy that will give CIL a stake in four Australian coalmines, along with other international assets.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Phalguni Guha, chief general manager of Coal India's foreign-venture arm, Coal Videsh, said that the deal could include thermal coal and metallurgical coal assets in the United States and Indonesia as well as Australia.

Coal India has appointed DSP Merrill Lynch to assist with finalising the deal structure.

New Delhi Police Yet To Trace Origin Of Cobalt-60

Police Waiting To Question Shop Owner

Police in New Delhi have yet to trace the origin of Cobalt-60, the radioactive material that caused serious injuries to six persons in a scrap market in the city on Friday.

"There is nothing concrete. We are waiting for Deepak Jain to regain his health. We are also waiting for reports from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and other agencies," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal told a news agency that officers were waiting for shop owner Deepak Jain to regain his health before questioning him as to the origin of the cobalt..

Mr Aggarwal said that nobody knew Mr Jain had bought the cobalt. "Normally, scrap dealers never makes public their source of scrap as it will affect their business. So, nobody knows from where he bought it," he said.

AERB experts safely removed eight bunches of metal scraps containing sources of the Cobalt-60 radioactive isotope from Mr Jain’s shop and transported the material to the Narora Atomic Power Station in Uttar Pradesh.

"Investigations are now in progress to ascertain the source of the radioactive cobalt-60, which was recovered from the scrap in a shop in Mayapuri," S A Hussain, Head of Radiological Safety division of AERB, said.

Mr Jain is fighting for his life at the Apollo Hospital while five others -- Gaurav, Rajendra Prasad, Ramjee Yadav, Ram Kalap and Himanshu Jain -- have been admitted to the AIIMS where all are being kept in an isolation ward.

Radioactive Material Found In New Delhi Scrap Market

Material Thought To Be Cobalt-60

Scientists in India are probing the presence of a radioactive material at a New Delhi scrap market.

The material, which was discovered on Thursday night, has caused injuries to five people with two in a critical condition in a local hospital.

Police cordoned off the Mayapuri scrap market in the city and sealed all nearby shops while nuclear scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Narora Atomic Power Plant in Bulandshahr were involved in an operation to identify the source of the radioactive material.

"The experts have identified the material as Cobalt-60. They have also identified six sources of the material from the scrap market," National Disaster Management Authority member and former BARC director B B Bhattacharya said. “Cobalt-60 is used in fabrication work, especially for welding steel. It is also used in radiotherapy for treating cancer.”

However, Cobalt-60 is also one of the nine materials suitable for radiological use for making a so-called ‘dirty bomb’. The metal, along with Caesium-137 surpasses uranium and thorium for its radioactive strength.

The presence of the nuclear material – and in such a public place - has caused fear within India’s security establishment with Prime Minister P Chidamabram being been briefed about the incident.

Experts say while a nuclear weapon obtains its explosive power from nuclear fission, a dirty bomb involves no nuclear fission, and is used like a conventional weapon.

Local scrap dealers said the owner of the shop, Deepak Jain, and his employees Ram Ji Yadav, Ram Kalk Yadav, Gaurav and Rajender Prasad, fell unconscious while they were cutting metal and a white fluid oozed out causing severe burns. Mr Jain had brought the scrap from Faridabad, through Mr Prasad, on 12 March. Mr Prasad first tried to cut open the waste but this led to the withering away of his fingernails. Mr Jain then put the material away but by 25 March he began to have headaches, his hair began to fall out and his skin started to show signs of decay. After consulting a doctor his skin began to turn black and he was admitted into New Delhi’s Apollo Hospital on 4 April. The radiation safety officer at Apollo informed India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) the next day and two officials were subsequently sent to Khajan Basti at the Mayapuri scrap market.

Doctors say that Mr Jain's bone marrow is significantly suppressed and his condition is quite serious. The condition of the four labourers has also been deteriorating since Friday afternoon and they have been shifted from the city’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Another trader, Himanshu Jain, is also at AIIMS.

Meanwhile local police are trying to find out if the material originated from abroad.

SAIL, POSCO Sign FINEX Steel JV

New Plant Expected To Use Low-Cost Technology

Steel Authority of India Ltd and the Korean steelmaker, POSCO, have signed a joint venture for steel production using its FINEX technology in order to bring down the cost of production. The two companies are looking at building a 5-million tonne plant in Jharkhand, India.

FINEX uses non-coking coal fines and iron ore fines, to produce iron which will be capable of making high-grade steel. This would then be processed by SAIL to make specialised steel. The cost of production is expected to be lower as it avoids the high cost of converting coal into coke.

Zinc Mining Could Return To Lennard Shelf

Indian Firm Takes Stake In Meridian Minerals

Zinc mining could return to the Lennard Shelf at Kimberley in Western Australia after local miner Meridian Minerals received financial backing from an Indian company.

Binani Zinc will take a $2 million stake in Meridian as well as providing it with a €6 million loan. The funds will be used to buy the Galmoy zinc-lead processing plant in Ireland and to complete a feasibility study on the Lennard Shelf site.

China Bans Low-Grade Iron Ore Imports

Traders Banned from Importing Ore with less than 60% Fe

China has banned the import of all grades of iron ore with an iron content of less than 60%. The move was announced on Thursday by the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters (CCCMC) and appears to be with immediate effect with reports of Indian shipments of 55% iron content already being turned away.

The move is expected to impact in particular on India’s iron ore mining industry as around 40% of the Indian iron ore exports are low grades. Almost all of India's exports go to China, which has imported 106 million tonnes of Indian ore in the last 12 months.

Indian Iron Ore Rises In Respond To Boycott

Price Rises $10 In One Week

Spot prices of Indian iron ore soared to $183.10 per tonne on Thursday in response to the China Iron and Steel Association’s call for a boycott of the big three global miners, Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. CISA called the boycott after the big three sought a 90 per cent rate hike, moved to quarterly pricing and scrapped the annual iron ore benchmark system.

Spot prices of 63.5% Indian iron ore fines stood at $181.70-$183.10 per tonne on Thursday, up from $171 a tonne a week ago, before CISA called for a boycott of iron ore produced by the big three global miners.

Meanwhile Chinese media reports that the 19 major Chinese ports currently have stockpiles of 67.37 million tonnes of iron ore this week, down by155,000 tonnes from a week ago. Only Qingdao and Rizhao ports – the latter China’s main iron ore port – showed increases in their stockpile. Dalian Port had 2.02 million tons of iron ore in stock, a fall of 330,000 tons from last week, while Caofeidian Port in northern China's Hebei province had 3.45 million tons, down by 150,000 tonnes.

See also: China bans low-grade iron ore imports