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Astra secures third iron ore trading licence
ASTRA Minerals, a subsidiary of Astra Resources,
has secured an iron ore trading licence
for the Joda and Barbil areas in the
Keonjhar district of Orissa state. It is the third
of five trading licences Astra is securing covering
the main iron ore producing regions in
Orissa to Paradip Port, where Astra holds a
storage and export site. Astra’s CEO Jaydeep
Biswas says securing this licence is a
further step towards turning the company’s
5000 square metre plot at Paradip Port into
a major iron ore export province.
“Astra has already secured trading licences
covering the Koira Mining Circle in the Sundergarh
district and the Jajpur Road Mining Circle
in the Jajpur district. Securing a third trading licence
expands the company’s reach, allowing
Astra to trade and transport self-mined and
third party mined iron ore to Paradip Port for export
into the international market while further
developing our own mining operations for domestic
use and export.
“Being one of the few companies with export
licences for iron ore, while also having possession
of leasehold land at Paradip Port for storage
and shipping, makes Astra a serious
contender in the resources industry.”
A further two trading licences are being applied
for by Astra in the districts of Keonjhar
and Cuttack, also in Orissa.
Astra’s managing director Silvana De Cianni
says the trading licence allows Astra to obtain
iron ore from the specified area and transport
it to its plot at Paradip Port for storage and
export. “The plot size will allow Astra to trade
and ship 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes of iron
ore per month, bringing a substantial income
stream into the company,” she says. “Astra
Iron ore beneficiation plant takes shape
NSL Consolidated’s US$2.3 million iron ore
beneficiation plant at Kurnool in the southeast
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is taking
shape with first stage commissioning scheduled
to start by the end of 2011. The ASXlisted
company is developing the plant on its
stockyard site, which is adjacent to its Kuja
iron ore mine and just 5km from its Mangal
iron ore mine, both of which are being readied
for full-scale mining and plant start-up.
The plant footings were completed in December
and delivery of key plant components
to the stockyard site began in the last week of
November, with erection of those components
beginning immediately upon their arrival.
NSL is the only foreign company to own and
operate iron ore mines in India, which is the
world’s third largest iron ore exporter, in parallel
with having a strong domestic steel market.
The company’s first sales from Kurnool, scheduled
for the first half of 2012, will represent its
maiden revenue stream. The plant has the potential
to lift NSL’s ROM iron ore grades to between
58-61% iron from as low as 25-27%
iron with good yield and recovery rates.
NSL’s trial mining operations and subsequent
operational and financial modelling has
suggested a return on capital within just three
months of Kurnool completing full commissioning.
The plant has annual capacity of
196,000 tonnes of concentrate, which NSL
says will deliver a steady net cash flow of
US$800,000 per month at full production.
The Kurnool and Kuja projects have access
to established road and rail infrastructure.
The road to the projects links directly to the
has already been granted an export licence,
and with arrangements already in place to
buy iron ore from third party mines, trading
can begin immediately.” A number of other licences
are being applied for in numerous different
regions in Orissa.
Although Orissa has a long coast line of
480km, Paradip is the major all-weather port,
with expansion plans only enhancing the accessibility
of the port to internal and external
exports. Paradip has its own railway system
and is connected to East Coast Railways and
various other highways, enabling iron ore to
be transferred to the port with ease.
Work to modernize the existing port infrastructure
has been agreed to, which will include
deepening the approach and entrance channel,
enhancing the draught at existing docks and
extending the existing iron ore berth.
highway leading to Krishnapatnam Port,
which is around 330km by road and the closest
point of departure for bulk exports from
Andhra Pradesh. The road also connects to
two rail sidings that have infrastructure for
loading iron ore ion to trains. These are about
18km and 30km respectively by road from
the Kuja mine gate with the sidings about
460km by rail from the port.
NSL began mining at Kuja in February
2010 and focused on excavation of trial pits
and small scale productivity assessments in
preparation for the beneficiation plant. The
Kuja project has an approved mining plan
allowing an annual mining rate of up to
331,000 tonnes of iron ore although this
should not be taken as a forecast of production
by NSL.
Trial mining operations at NSL Consolidated’s iron ore projects in Andhra Pradesh state.
48 | ASIA Miner | January/February 2012