India’s JSW Steel Limited and AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), an arm of state government of Andhra Pradesh, have inked a pact to construct an iron ore beneficiation plant on land to be provided by the government, official sources said on Thursday, June 19.
As per the agreement, JSW Steel Limited will undertake exploration activities, purchase the iron ore output at price determined by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and subsequently process it at its proposed beneficiation plant and either sell the upgraded iron ore in the market or supply it to its own steel mills, the sources said.
It was pointed out that initial studies commissioned by APMDC had indicated that iron ore fines available Prakasam district in the state was of very poor quality with FE content not more than 30 percent. However, with beneficiation the ore could be improved and made suitable for utilisation by local steel mills.
The sources said that JSW Steel Limited would construct the beneficiation plant on 1,300 acres of land to be provided by the state government. While JSW Steel would have the freedom to either sell the processed iron ore in the market or supply it to its own mills, it would pay APMDC a royalty of 11 percent on the sale price.
The capacity of the beneficiation plant would be determined by a feasibility report based on exploration result of the Prakasam iron ore block, the sources added.