India Resources Ltd (IRL), a subsidiary of western Australia-based mining major Monarch Gold Mining Ltd, is all set to restart mining operations at Hindustan Copper Ltd’s (HCL) closed Surda mine near Ghatsila, 50 km from here.
IRL will also run HCL’s closed copper concentrate plant at Mosabani, located in the same area.
The Surda mine was the last to be closed down by HCL in 2003. The PSU’s five other mines in the area were shut down earlier.
Surda, which is HCL’s second largest mine in the area, is still being maintained at an operational level. It last employed around 1,000 workmen.
Global copper prices hovered at a low of around $3,000 a tonne (compared with today’s $7,000 a tonne) when HCL decided to close down its mines one by one. Non-viability was cited as the main reason.
IRL chief operating officer (COO) Arvind Mishra said here on Tuesday that the India-focused company entered into a commercial alliance with the Indian PSU copper major in April, whereby it would re-open underground mining at the Surda mine and also restart the Mosabani copper concentrate plant.
IRL’s immediate objective will be to deliver 4,500 tonne per annum of copper concentrate (from the Mosabani concentrator plant) to HCL’s smelter plant located at Maubhandar.
Mishra did not disclose the price at which IRL would be selling the copper concentrate to HCL.
To begin with, IRL’s copper ore production from the Surda mine will be 0.5 million tonne a year. It will be doubled to one million tonne in two years’ time and then to 3 million tonne.