JSPL bags lease for Kasia iron ore mine in Odisha.

The Odisha Government has granted the mining lease for the Kasia iron and dolomite mine to Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL), the company said recently. The e-auction for the mineral block was held on September 18. JSPL has been declared the preferred bidder for the mine at a premium of 118.10 per cent, it further added.

The Kasia mine holds 278 million tonnes of iron ore and has an average Fe grade of approximately 62.5 per cent. It has favourable lumps to the fine ratio of 20:80 and an environmental clearance (EC) for 7.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), the release added.

The mine was earlier owned and operated by Essel Mining & Industries Limited. JSPL can restart operations quickly, enhancing backward integration for the company in the current financial year.

“Kasia is a high-Fe and low-alumina mine, located only 17 km from our Barbil pellet plant. The company has a crude steel capacity of around 9 MTPA and plans to increase it to around 16 MTPA by FY25. Access to this large captive iron ore source, therefore, provides a strategic advantage to the company,” VR Sharma, Managing Director, JSPL said.

“The company plans to use a slurry pipeline from the Barbil region to Angul, which will further reduce the logistics cost. There would not be any significant capex requirement, except for statutory payment, as the mine was already operational,” he added.

HBL