The JSW Group secured two mines from Hindustan Copper, having a combined capacity of three million TPA.
Dec 27, 2024
The JSW Group has added a new metal into its business kitty – copper! The company secured two copper mines in Jharkhand from state-owned Hindustan Copper, marking its entry into the non-ferrous metal segment, an industry having a vast range of applications in various sectors, including electronics, telecommunications and healthcare.
Media sources said the Sajjan Jindal-led company won the bid against Aditya Birla Group’s Hindalco Industries with a competitive revenue-sharing offer.
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Both mines have a combined capacity of three million tonnes per annum. While one of these blocks is virgin, the other one has remained closed for the past 20 years.
Hindustan Copper had previously sought applications for a mine developer-cum-operator (MDO) to re-open and expand the Rakha Copper Mine, as well as develop and operate an underground mine in Chapri.
The company said the mining lease for Rakha expired in 2021 and an extension was currently under progress with the Jharkhand government. The project screening committee had already approved the application for stage one forest clearance for the remaining forest area within the mining lease. The site inspection by various authorities from the State Forest department have already been completed, it added.
Hindustan Copper is implementing expansion projects to increase its mine production capacity to 12.2 million TPA. The decision is expected to boost domestic copper production and reduce dependence on imports.
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The development of an underground mine below the existing open cast mine at Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP) will augment the company’s ore production capacity from 2.5 MTPA to 5 MTPA. The ore production from the open cast mine has now been exhausted and the underground mine is operating below the existing open cast mine leaving some barrier pillars.
Hindustan Copper is the country’s only integrated producer of refined copper and owns all the operating mining leases for copper ore. It is also the only vertically integrated copper producer in the country, involved in mining, smelting, refining, and manufacturing of the metal.
