Karnataka: KIOCL gets in-principle nod for mining in Devadari hill

MANGALURU: Ministry of environment and forests has accorded Stage 1 in-principle approval for the diversion of 401.5 hectares of forest land at Devadari hill range in Ballari district for mining of iron and manganese ores by Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL).
KIOCL CMD M V Subba Rao told reporters on Monday that the approval was given on June 24. After fulfilling certain conditions, they will get second and final approvals. Mining activities in the new captive mine is likely to begin from the next financial year.
After a gap of nearly 15 years, KIOCL is getting a captive mine. “It will provide raw material security and the quality of our products will also increase,” he said.
The total expenditure of the new mining activity will be approximately Rs 1,500 crore, of which Rs 300 crore will be used for pre-mining activities. The project is expected to generate about 1,000 jobs, of which 50% will be direct employment. Till the commissioning of the pellet plant, which is likely in the second phase, the mine’s minerals will be brought to the pellet plant in Mangaluru.
KIOCL has continued its efforts to expand the pellet market to international markets like Brazil and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. The share of Chinese market is 44%, MENA countries’ is 41% and the rest is of Brazil and Malaysia, said Rao.
As part of modernisation of 3.5MTPA-capacity pellet plant, KIOCL has installed a barrel-type blender reclaimer of 1,000 tonnes per hour capacity at a cost of Rs 17.5 crore in Mangaluru. The barrel-type blender reclaimers homogeneously blend different types of iron ore fines received from various sources.
In financial year 2020-21, pellet production achieved 2.21 million tonnes as against 2.37 million tonnes of the previous financial year. Export of pellets was 1.84 million tonnes and domestic sales were 0.46 million tonnes.