BHUBANESWAR: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has sought expeditious measures for exploration of minerals and beneficiation of iron ore. Stating that India has remained one of the least explored countries and has very low spending on exploration compared to other leading mining countries, Chairman of ICC Odisha State Council M C Thomas said exploration of minerals should be incentivised.
“Only 10 per cent of available minerals in the country has been explored so far. There is a huge scope for ramping up exploration. The existing policy needs to be amended as currently, exploration is economically unattractive here,” he said. The industries body has also laid stress on beneficiation of iron ore as 56 per cent of iron ore produced is of low grade and it is not suitable for feeding into furnaces without beneficiation. Of over 150 million tonne stock of such ore at mines in the country, 85 million tonnes in Odisha alone has serious potential to land degradation and pollution hazards.
Convenor of steel and mines committee of ICC Odisha council Manish Kharbanda said Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) has been playing an important role through its R&D for developing economically feasible ways for beneficiation of hematite.
“The industries should approach the lab, which will help in designing flow sheets and engineering to match with the site-specific mineralogy. Some policy intervention by the Government on pricing and tax regimes/levies on low-grade ore is also essential for effective utilisation of low-grade ore through beneficiation,” he added.
The miners, who attended the India Mining Conclave-2019 here, have also sought help from the State Government for timely auction of mines and smooth transition of clearances post-auction process to ensure continuity of mining operations.