Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC), a subsidiary of navratna Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), is expected to get environmental clearance for its Thakurani mine in Orissa by the month-end.
According to the information on the website of the ministry of environment and forests, an expert committee on mining constituted by the ministry will take up the case of granting approval on November 29.
The company has already secured a go-ahead from the ministry in July for its biggest iron ore mine Kolha Roida and manganese mine Dalki.
While individual reserves of the mines were not disclosed, a company official said Thakurani is currently the biggest in terms of area and is spread across 1,545 hectare, or a third of its total mining area of 4,365.262 hectare.
The company’s total iron ore reserves are estimated at 206 million tonne and manganese ore reserves at 44 million tonne. But production and revenues are zero as all the six mines are shut. When fully functional, OMDC was producing 3 million tonne of iron ore annually.
Meantime, OMDC is moving ahead on splitting its share. OMDC recently informed the National Stock Exchange that during its board meeting on November 9, it will consider the issue.
According to conservative estimates, experts say OMDC is expected to reach a minimum production figures of 3 million tonne of iron ore and 0.2 million tonne of manganese ore in the next fiscal, which could translate into a topline of Rs1,100 crore, and profits of around Rs500 crore, said an analystwith a leading brokerage, who did not wish to be named.
OMDC posted a profit of Rs3.26 crore for the quarter ended June 2011.
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