Steel Production Raw Materials (SAIL)

Chapter - 6 Raw Materials for Steel Plants 6.1 Mines of SAIL The Steel Industry is a raw materials intensive Industry. The importance of raw materials in the steel industry cannot be over emphasized. It affects the TechnoEconomics of the Steel Industry. SAIL has the second largest mining outfit in t...

Chapter - 6 Raw Materials for Steel Plants 6.1 Mines of SAIL The Steel Industry is a raw materials intensive Industry. The importance of raw materials in the steel industry cannot be over emphasized. It affects the TechnoEconomics of the Steel Industry. SAIL has the second largest mining outfit in the country spread over the mineral rich states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Mines are responsible for supply of consistent quantity and quality of raw materials to steel plants. Specific mission is to achieve rapid expansion and optimisation of its production capacity, improvement in technology and quality and profitability with better service to steel plants. The composite picture of demand of Iron ore is given in Table No. 1 Table – 1: Demand of Iron Ore Year Hot Metal (mtpa) Iron Ore Consumption Linkage of Iron Ore (mtpa) 2022-23 19.41 33.20 Post Expansion 33.36 57.75 Existing Mines  During the expansion, Gua, Taldih, Rowghat & Bolani production capacity shall be enhanced to meet the Iron Ore requirement.  SAIL is having plan to install Pellet manufacturing Plants at different plants/mines location having total capacity of 19.2MTPA by 2030-31. 2030-31 Raw materials like iron ore, limestone, dolomite, manganese ore and coke are used for iron making in steel plants. It is preferable to have low ash content in the coke, low gangue material in the iron ore and fluxes to increase furnace productivity. In order to ensure consistency in quality and quantity of major raw materials SAIL has a number of captive mines. The mines were in the beginning captive to respective steel plants. As our demands grew stringent in terms of quality, it was felt necessary that the mines be brought under one umbrella. 54 Raw Materials – Ore : Capacity after expansion (December 2023) Mines Existing Capacity Capacity Remarks after (in mtpa) expansion as in (in mtpa) Dec’23 Kiriburu 5.50 5.50 Meghahatuburu 5.00 5.00 Bolani 9.50 10.00 Gua 4.25 10.00 Rajhara, Dalli 8.70 7.00** Barsua,Kalta, 9.0 14 Expansion through MDO route for Taldih mines for 7 mtpa under progress. EC for 16mtpa ROM (Barsua-4+Taldih-8+Kalta-4) granted. 12.00/1.00 MDO has been engaged wef 25.09.2017 for development of 14mtpa mine. Taldih Rowghat/Kalwar 0.3 Nagar  At Bolani, Tertiary crusher installation is in final stage.  Gua: Capacity expansion through MDO route. Is under process.  **Depleted resources and constraints at Dalli-Rajhara. quality Interim mining to a tune of 3 lakh tonne per annum started on 05.02.2021. Fresh EC of 2mtpa has been granted for interim mining. Chiria 0.75 0.75 Further expansion will be taken up after availability of lease extension/Forest Clearance. SAIL Mines Benefits: i. ii. iii. iv. v. Strategic and need based networking Proper development of mines and optimum utilization of assets. Create synergy in mining operations. Reduction in dependence on non-captive sources by increasing asset utilization/ productivity and inter-plant transfers. Perspective planning and development of new sources. 55 vi. Centralized responsibility to organize supply of raw materials to plants of desired quality and quantity. vii. Proper emphasis on mine planning and long-term development of the mines. viii. Integrated approach for development of new mines and scouting for new mineral areas. ix. Gainful utilization of surplus resources of mine in others 6.2 SAIL Mines Consistent and improved quality of iron ore is crucial for achieving desired blast furnace performance levels. The current production from the operational iron ore mines have to be augmented to meet SAIL’s future requirements for which substantial development of mines will have to be taken up. The probable Iron Ore reserves with SAIL is approx 1700 MT. Presently, SAIL manages 10 iron ore mines and 3 operating flux mines. Mine s State Year of Commissioni ng Kiriburu Iron Ore Mine Jharkhand 1964 Meghahatuburu Iron Ore Mine Bolani Ore Mines Jharkhand 1985 Odisha 1960 Gua Ore Mines Jharkhand 1919 Manoharpur Ore Mine Jharkhand 1901 Barsua Iron Mines Odisha 1960 Kalta Iron Mine Odisha 1966 Taldih Iron Mine Odisha 2016 Rated Capacity (in MT) as on Dec’23 Finished Production (2022-23)(in MT) Iron Ore Rajhara, Dalli Rowghat Flux Kuteshwar Limestone Mines Chhattisgar h Chhattisgar h Madhya 56 2021 1974 5.5 0 5.0 0 9.5 0 4.2 5 0.7 5 3.0 0 4.0 0 2.0 0 8.7 0 0.3 0 4.00 2.3 2 1.00 3.70 7.10 3.95 0.35 2.30 3.20 1.35 7.75 0.10 (Limestone) Pradesh Bhawanathpur Limestone Mine (Limestone) Jharkhand 1979 0.1 2 - Tulsidamar Dolomite Mines Jharkhand 1970 0.3 0 - (Dolomite) To meet the enhanced iron ore requirement, the following strategies are being planned to be adopted : Development of new blocks Increased production from existing mines to their potential Improving the quality of iron ore by suitable beneficiation Achieving operating efficiencies by economic scale of operations The major linkage for raw materials are in keeping with economics of transportation though it will be pertinent to mention that in order to provide smooth supply of raw materials to Steel Plants there is no specific source as such and raw material is provided as and when required from source which is best suited at that juncture. SAIL is however, not self-sufficient in fluxes due to poor quality and high cost. Only Kuteshwar Limestone mines are suitable for meeting the requirement for iron making purpose. The mine is being augmented to a higher capacity. --- 57