1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Background Vedanta Limited Is One of the World's Leading Diversified Natural Resources Companies
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Pre-Feasibility Report For The Proposed 5.00 MTPA Iron Ore Mine at Manoharpur Taluk, West Singhbhum District, Jharkand State 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Background Vedanta Limited is one of the world's leading diversified natural resources companies. The company’s main businesses focus on zinc, lead, silver, aluminum, copper, iron ore, oil & gas and commercial power, while its operations span across India, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, Ireland and Australia. Iron ore division of Vedanta Limited was previously known as Sesa Goa Limited. Company has an ambitious expansion plan of present pig iron business to steel manufacturing with strong foothold in Eastern India. A prospecting scheme (including drilling programme) was submitted to IBM and State Government at the time. As the entire PL area falls in Ankua Reserve Forest and Dhobil protected forest area of Saranda Forest Division, application for permission to conduct prospecting operation was submitted to the Saranda Forest Division office. After due processing and examination of this application at different levels by state government it was recommended to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India in 2007 and 2008 but in this period the permission from the forest department was not granted. In view of the inordinate delay in forest clearance for prospecting work, an application for renewal of license for 2 more years was made to the State government and prospecting license was extended upto 9th March 2010. On the 22nd April 2009, a revised scheme of prospecting, under rule 5 (2) of MCDR 1988, was submitted to carry out prospecting through non evasive method like geophysical survey, topographical and geological mapping, geochemical sampling etc. Before expiry of the prospecting license, a mining lease application, over an area of 450.72 ha supported by a report of prospecting operations carried out was submitted as per rule 8(1)(b) MCDR 1988 to the District Mining Office, Chaibasa on the 18th May 2009. The ML application was forwarded by Dy Commissioner, West Singhbhum District to Director, Mines, Govt of Jharkhand with recommendation to consider for grant of ML. This mining lease application has been pending with the State Government since 2009. In 2015, new mineral legislation, ‘The Mines and Mineral (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act 2015’ was enacted in which the above mining lease application has been saved under Sec. 10(A)2(b). In January 2017, the Director of Mines, Directorate of Mines, Government of Jharkhand issued a letter to Vedanta requesting the submission of a fresh prospecting report compliant to UNFC guidelines supported by a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey to accurately delineate the boundary of the lease area, being a new requirement as per recent guidelines of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, for processing of mining lease applications. Vedanta Limited 1 Pre-Feasibility Report For The Proposed 5.00 MTPA Iron Ore Mine at Manoharpur Taluk, West Singhbhum District, Jharkand State Because of the above, permission was sought from The Conservator of Forest, Saranda Forest Division to complete the required exploration programme (including drilling). This was granted, but limited to not more than 20 bore holes per 10 km2 for the 450.72 Ha, this equated to 9 bore holes. To deliver on the requirement from state government of a UNFC compliant report, while adhering to the permission granted by the Conservator of Forest, Saranda Forest Division, an exploration programme has been completed May – July 2017 by M/S. Geotech Exploration, Nagpur . Prospecting and drilling activities in the applied ML area are inspected by Deputy Director Geology, Singhbhum Region on 16th June 2017 and Assistant Mining Geologist of IBM (Ranchi Region) inspected the above said area on 25th to 26th July 2017. In January 2017, Director Mines, Government of Jharkhand had asked Vedanta to submit fresh prospecting report compliant with the UNFC guidelines. Accordingly permission for exploratory borehole drilling was taken from the Conservator Forest, Saranda Division, Chaibasa and exploration program started in May 2017. 1.2 Project Proposal Vedanta Limited proposes for 5.0 MTPA iron ore mining at Chiria hills adjacent to SAIL Dhobil lease in Manoharpur taluk, West Singhbhum district, Jharkand state. Present proposal for iron ore production will enable the industry to supply feedstock for its production requirements and will ultimately, subject to ongoing positive exploration results, provide feedstock to the proposed Sesa Goa steel plant in Jharkhand. 1.3 Location and Accessibility The proposed location for iron ore mining falls in Ankua reserve forest land and Dhobil protected forest at Chiria hills, Manoharpur taluk, West Singhbhum district, Jharkand state. Location details of the proposed iron ore mine is given Table-1. TABLE-1 LOCATION DETAILS Area Pillar Location Survey of India (ha) No. Latitude Longitude Toposheet No. 450.72 VML-278 85⁰17’15.099’’ E 22⁰18’4.817’’ N 73 F/7 (Open series VML-1 85⁰17’49.202’’ E 22⁰18’5.533’’ N map no- F45H7) VML-86 85⁰18’32.707’’ E 22⁰16’15.317’’ N VML-120 85⁰17’45.713’’ E 22⁰15’50.738’’ N VML-208 85⁰17’1.108’’ E 22⁰16’45.912’’ N Vedanta Limited 2 Pre-Feasibility Report For The Proposed 5.00 MTPA Iron Ore Mine at Manoharpur Taluk, West Singhbhum District, Jharkand State 1.4 Geology of the Deposit Geologically, the terrain around the PL forms part of the oldest meta- sedimentary and metavolcanic formations of the Chhotanagpur plateau, situated on the Budaburu and Baichindigiburu hill ranges, considered as homotaxial with the Dharwars in the Indian geological column. It is believed that the iron-rich formations of the Bonai-Keonjhar range form part of the Iron Ore Series. In a generally accepted opinion, iron ore bearing Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) occur between the over lying shales, phyllites, sandstones, lavas, ash and tuff beds, and the basal sandstone conglomerates, occurring at the base of iron ore group which unconformably overlays the older metamorphics. Profuse volcanic activity in the form of tuff beds, has been noted within the BIF. The Iron Ore Group of rocks outcrop around the Singhbhum granite body. Regional Stratigraphy The stratigraphic succession has under gone evolutionary changes as per the interpretation of Mr. H.C. Jones, Mr. J.A. Dunn etc. hence the Regional stratigraphy as postulated by Sarkar &Saha in 1983 is as mentioned below where in the geochronological data are also included. Vedanta Limited 3 Pre-Feasibility Report For The Proposed 5.00 MTPA Iron Ore Mine at Manoharpur Taluk, West Singhbhum District, Jharkand State Physiography, Topography and Drainage Pattern The Ankua Block is located in the northwestern part of the South Singhbhum-Keonjhar-Bonai Iron Ore Belt in the state of Jharkhand. The most important group of iron ore deposits of the country is housed in this belt, which has NNE-SSW trending ridges with gentle to moderate slopes and intervening low lying valleys. The rock types exposed in the area are represented by Pre-Cambrian sedimentary formations known as Iron Ore Series. The general strike of the formations in Northern Singhbhum is E-W while NNE-SSW of Southern Singhbhum. The strike changes to NW-SE in the eastern part and the adjoining areas of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. The entire block fall within Reserve Forest, exhibits uneven topography, consist mixed dense jungle, marked by NNE-SSW trending ridges of moderate heights with intervening valleys and small mounds. The highest and lowest altitudes of the applied ML area are about 740 m to 360 m above MSL respectively. The general elevation is + 600m above MSL. The Koina River, trending nearly N30° E- S30° W, flows towards north. Three dry seasonal nala is flowing within area. One in the northern side flowing towards north eastern direction to meet the Hamsdanala, which is flowing towards north east & meet with Koina River. Other Two nalas in the eastern side & southern side flowing towards eastern direction meet the Jojodanala, which is flowing towards east & meet with Koina River. Regional Geology Geology of ML Area The Chiria iron ore deposit is a banded limonite – goethite – hematite assemblage, capping the Budha Buru hill sloping down to 530 m MSL resting on the shale and BHQ country rock of the Iron Ore Group. Trending parallel to the major structure, the longest axis of the deposit is N25°E – S25°W, over a visible strike length of >6.5 km and a variable width of between 1.4 and 3.5 km. Total mineral reserves of the ML area are given in Table-1. Structure The general structural trend in the area is NNE-SSW with variable dips due to folding. The general dip is 40-50°. Two pervasive structural fabrics could be measured: S0 bedding: This is the primary laminated bedding of the Banded Iron Formation. This is mostly replaced and destroyed in the lateritised ore cap. Mineralisation within the laminated ore type can also replace all primary bedding and give the ore a massive appearance. S1 foliation: This is a major pervasive foliation developed in most units and extending across the license area. It generally dips steeply at 75-85° in a W to WNW direction. This foliation is often preserved and accentuated within Vedanta Limited 4 Pre-Feasibility Report For The Proposed 5.00 MTPA Iron Ore Mine at Manoharpur Taluk, West Singhbhum District, Jharkand State the laterite ore. S1 is pervasively present in the BHQ where the intersection with S0 can be observed. Interpretation of all the S0 readings in the license area indicates folding of at least one major fold with a fold hinge, orientation 025/12. This observation is confirmed in the field where local parasitic folding could be observed and measured (Figure 2).