Vedanta to get laterite deposits for its refinery

The Government on  Friday announced in the State Assembly its decision to provide certain laterite deposits to the Vedanta Aluminium ltd (VAl).

“The State Government has decided to provide certain laterite stone mines to Vedanta which requires bauxite for its refinery at lanjigarh,” Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said while replying to a question of Congress member Chandrasekhar Majhi.

Stating that the VAl has been told to sign agreement with the State Government to go ahead with exploration of laterite stone mines, the Minister said the company would use technology for conversion of the mineral. laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas.

Earlier, the VAl had urged the State Government to secure alternate bauxite supplies and also to fast-track its applications for three small laterite deposits in Koraput district for mining lease.

The VAl urgently required alternate raw material supplies after being denied permission to mine bauxite atop the ecologically-sensitive Niyamgiri hills by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The company is running its one-million-tonne refinery at lanjigarh by sourcing bauxite from States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

The laterite mines are considered to be a short-term breather for the VAl refinery. The company had also filed 33 applications for alternative bauxite mines currently pending at different stages of approvals. These include Karlapat (South), Sasbahumali, Gandhamardhan and Ghusramali.