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.

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.

Chhattisgarh Sponge Iron Production Hit

Iron Ore Supplies Disrupted To Almost Half Of Plants

Production at around 50 sponge iron manufacturing plants in the Chhattisgarh region on India has been hit after miners in Orissa stopped supplying iron ore.

"Chhattisgarh has 105 sponge iron units having an annual output of 8 million tonnes, but production has been stopped completely at nearly 50 percent of the units because Orissa-based private contractors have stopped supply since March 4," Anil Nachrani, president of the Chhattisgarh Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association, told reporters. Chhattisgarh accounts for about 30-35 percent of India's annual sponge iron production.

Mr Nachrani said the plants used about 12 million tonnes of iron ore each year, of which 9 million tonnes were supplied by private miners from Orissa's Keonjhar district with the National Mineral Development Corporation provided the remaining 3 million tonnes from its Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh.

Iron ore supply was disrupted last month after the Orissa government began a crackdown on the alleged illegal mining of iron ore in the state. Supplies to a number of larger companies such as Monnet, Ispat and Sharda Energy have also been hit.

Manufacturers say more units will either suspend or cut production if supply was not restored.

Orissa Mining, Rio Tinto In JV Talks

Agreement Not Expected To Be Signed In Next Two Months

Indian state-owned mining company, Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto are in discussion about a joint venture mining project in the state, but will take some more time to finalise it, officials said on Tuesday.

The two parties agreed to a billion-dollar iron project in 1995, however neither party could agree on key issues and the project failed to get off the ground.
Both the company and the state government were at pains to point out that nothing had yet been signed.

‘I think we are not going to sign any agreement with them (Rio Tinto) in next two months at least’ OMC’s managing director Saswat Mishra said.

‘At this stage, I cannot say if we are going to revive the old agreement or there would be a new one,’ Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told IANS.

Orissa Receives Eight Coal Mining Operations

The government of the Indian state of Orissa has received eight proposals from companies keen to start coal mining in the Angul district in the centre of the state. Terms and conditions have now been issued for four of the applications while four others are still under process.

Steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty said that Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd., Utkal Coal, Kalinga Mines Ltd have been issued terms and conditions for coal mining while National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), Tata Sponge Iron Ltd, Bhushan Steel Ltd and Mandakini Coal Ltd are all having their applications considered.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd both propose to set up steel plants in Angul district. JSPL has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) splant while Monnet Ispat is to set up a 0.25 mtpa steel plant.

Orissa Mining Looking To Diversify

Indian state-owned mining company, Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), is to diversify into power and the coal mining sector, some two decades after becoming a mining-only company.

OMC will set up 2000 MW thermal power plant near Rengali in join venture with Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) with an investment of Rs 80 billion. The two partners will each have a 50% stake in the new company, which will be known as Orissa Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL). OTPCL has applied for the necessary documents for a coal block for the project. OMC is also looking at setting up an independent power plant consisting of two 660MW units though the company admit that such a plan is still at an early stage.

OMC has three coal blocks, one independently and two jointly with other enterprises. It has entered into agreements with the Assam Mineral Development Corporation (AMDC), Meghalaya Mineral Development Corporation (MMDC) and Tamilnadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to develop the Mandakini-B coal block in Angul with a reserve of 1200 million tons. Mandakini-B is expected to produce 15 million ton per annum (MTPA) of coal for power Generation.


The company is also planning to float another JV with Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) on 50:50 sharing basis to exploit a coal block at Nuagaon Telisahi in Anugul with a reserve of 733 million tons. The Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) is currently exploring the coal block jointly with OMC and the geological report is expected by the end of April, 2010.