The mines of the Raw Materials Division (RMD) of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) have kicked off the first month of this calendar year with a growth of over 25% in iron ore production when compared with the corresponding period last year. In January RMD’s iron ore mines at Meghahatuburu, Kiriburu, Gua, and Bolani clocked a growth of 25.7%, 24.7%, 20.6%, and 15.7% respectively.
Total April-Jan production in this financial year touches 16.02Mt, a growth of 7.1% over the same period last year. RMD’s objective it to achieve the highest ever iron ore production of 19.2Mt by the end of March this year.
In line with SAIL’s hot metal production enhancement, RMD has been expanding the capacity of its mines. It recently opened new iron ore mines at Taldih in Odisha. Taldih mines will help meet the enhanced requirements of SAIL’s steel plants.
SAIL has plans to develop fully mechanised mines at Taldih with a capacity of 4.2Mt/yr.
The mines of RMD in the eastern sector of the country primarily feed iron ore to SAIL’s steel plants at Rourkela, Durgapur, Bokaro, and Burnpur. In addition, RMD meets the demand of Bhilai Steel Plant.