BHUBANESWAR: The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) on Saturday inked a pact with the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, for collaborative research on feasibility studies for the preparation of fused magnesia from kimberlite tailings.
Kimberlite tailings are waste materials left after the recovery of diamonds from the source rock. The material has a particle size ranging from 20 mm to 75 micrometres and can be categorised as a soft aggregate. It mainly contains silica, alumina, iron oxide, and magnesia.
NMDC operates the only mechanised diamond mine in Southeast Asia at Panna in Madhya Pradesh. The mine produces around 10 carats of diamond per 100 tonne of kimberlite, which is dumped as waste after the recovery of diamonds. Kimberlite tailings are used for the development of value-added products and are also known to be a good source of caustic magnesia.
Director (production) of NMDC Dilip Kumar Mohanty said the national miner has collaborated with IMMT to study the processing and preparation of fused MgO and TiO2 besides addressing the research gap for the best utilisation of kimberlite that has accumulated over the years at Panna diamond mines.
Chairman and managing director Sumit Deb said, “We are confident that our endeavours will lead to the conversion of waste into wealth and import substitution, proving to be a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
The agreement was signed between the general manager (research and development) of NMDC SK Chaurasiya and the chief scientist and head of strategic planning and business development of IMMT Dr Ashok Kumar Sahu. Chief scientist and head of the hydro and electrometallurgy department of IMMT Kali Sanjay was also present.