ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel’s (AMNS) holding company ArcelorMittal India Private Limited (AMIPL) announced the commencement of mining operations at its Thakurani iron ore mine in Keonjhar district of Odisha on Thursday, July 23.
The Thakurani block has an estimated reserve of around 179mn mt and has an annual production capacity of 5.5mn mt. The block is expected to provide for at least 75pc of AMNS India’s long-term raw material requirements, according to media reports.
In an auction directed by Odisha’s government in February, AIMPL was selected as the preferred bidder and agreed to pay a 107.55pc premium per tonne inclusive of other royalty and duties.
The multinational steelmaker currently owns a 6mn mt pellet plant in Paradip in Odisha.
The firm also plans to connect the Thakurani block to its other plants in Odisha through slurry pipelines in order to eliminate environmental hazards and raise cost efficiency.
The CEO of AMNS, Dilip Oommen said, “The ore produced at Thakurani will feed AMNS India’s steel manufacturing facilities and support our long-term ambition to significantly grow our production capacity in India with a secure, integrated supply chain.”