Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar Quarry Lease (RCL Quarry Lease-V of the Region)
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The Ramco Cements Limited Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar Quarry Lease (RCL Quarry Lease-V of the Region) In Cluster with RCL Quarry Lease-I of Category A Minor Minerals: Lime Kankar & Clay (Black Cotton Soil) Extent of 123.26.5 Ha; Proposed Production : Lime Kankar ROM @ 0.5 MTPA & Clay (Black Cotton Soil) @ 0.025 MTPA Vadakkunatham Village, Aruppukottai Taluk, Virudhunagar District, Tamil Nadu Environmental Clearance under EIA Notification 2006 Schedule Sl. No. 1(a); Category ‘A’ (Mining in >100 Ha) Application/Form-1 Proposed TOR Feasibility Report Approved Mining Plan October 2018 EIA Consultant Ensyscon Enviro Solutions (Ensyscon) (QCI-NABET Sl. No. 383 of List dated 05.09.2018) Old 7, New 14, Shanmuga Naicker Street, K K Nagar, Chennai-600 078. Phone : 044-2364 3663; Fax-044-2364 2663 e-mail : [email protected] The Ramco Cements Limited Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar QL -123.26.5 Ha; 0.5 MTPA - Virudhunagar Dist., TN The Ramco Cements Limited Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar Quarry Lease (RCL Quarry Lease-V of the Region; In Cluster with QL-I) Minor Minerals: Lime Kankar & Clay (Black Cotton Soil) Extent of 123.26.5 Ha; Production : Lime Kankar ROM @ 0.5 MTPA & Clay (BC Soil) @ 0.025 MTPA Project Feasibility Report (As per MoEF&CC Guidelines vide Circular No. J-11013/41/2006-IA.II (I) dated 30.12.2010) 1.0 Executive Summary M/s. The Ramco Cements Limited (RCL) are manufacturers of cement for about 14.45 million tons per annum (MTPA) from their Cement Plants in South India. RCL is operating a Cement Plant at Ramasamy Raja Nagar (RR Nagar) in Virudhunagar District of Tamil Nadu for the Cement production of 2.0 MTPA. The Cement Plant’s Limestone requirements of 1.630 MTPA Clean Limestone & Lime Kankar are met from the Captive Limestone Mines in Pandalgudi Region viz. Pandalgudi, Maravarperungudi (Lime Kankar), Sivalarpatti and Melvenkateswarapuram Mines. These Mines are in operation since 1976. The Run-Off Mine (ROM) Production of these Mines is about 1.819 MTPA. The Centralised Crusher & Beneficiation Plant (2.0 MTPA Crushing/Beneficiation capacity) is located at Pandalgudi which is in operation since 1980. The existing Cement Plant operations and Captive Mines operations are in compliance with MoEF&CC Environmental Clearances and TNPCB CTOs conditions. RCL Cement Plants require both cement grade Limestone and Lime Kankar for the cement manufacturing. The existing Captive Mines are near the Conceptual Stage and the Limestone grade varies constantly. Existing Maravarperungudi Mining Lease supplies about 0.64 MTPA Lime Kankar and Clay and is also at the end of mining stage. Lime Kankar is required for blending with high/low grade limestone to meet the cement grade raw material to the Cement Plant. Thus, RCL proposes the Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar Quarry Lease (termed as RCL Quarry Lease-V in the Region) for Captive Consumption of RCL Cement Plants. RCL has applied to Grant the Quarry Lease for an area of 174.35.5 Ha for quarrying Lime Kankar and Clay (Black Cotton Soil) in Vadakkunatham village, Aruppukottai Taluk, Virudhunagar District of Tamil Nadu State. Subsequently, Precise Area Communication (PAC) has been issued for an extent of 123.26.5 Ha in Vadakkunatham village by the Tamil Nadu State Industries Department vide Letter No/2169/MMC- 2/2018-1 dated 02.04.2018 for a period of 10 years. The area covered under mining is non-forest type. The entire area applied for Quarry Lease is patta land owned by RCL. There is no Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R&R) issue due to the proposal. There is no litigation/pending case against the proposal. The Mining Plan has been approved by the Department of Mining & Geology, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Chennai vide Letter No. 584/MM10/2018/LK/Vnr, dated 08.06.2018. As per the Approved Mining Plan, the proposed maximum production from this Lease by Strip Mining would be about Lime Kankar @ 0.50 Million Tonnes per Annum (MTPA) as Run-Off Mine (ROM) basis and Clay (Black Cotton Soil) @ 0.025 MTPA. Ensyscon, Chennai-78. The Ramco Cements Limited Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar QL -123.26.5 Ha; 0.5 MTPA - Virudhunagar Dist., TN Cluster Situation : Proposed Maravarperungudi Quarry Lease-I (QL-I) is adjacent to QL-V to its north- northwest direction at 0.1 km. A single Public Hearing may be permitted for both Vadakkunatham Kankar Quarry Lease (QL-V) and Maravarperungudi Kankar Quarry Lease (QL-I) with Cluster Situation. In the total QL area of 123.26.5 Ha, about 88.24.5 Ha is only available for effective mining after leaving the prescribed safety barriers of about 35.02.0 Ha. It is estimated that 24,26,738 Tonnes of Lime Kankar and 18,53,145 Tonnes of Clay (Black Cotton Soil) are mineable from this Quarry Lease with estimated In-situ Geological Reserves of 33,89,788 Tonnes Lime Kankar and 25,88,565 (Black Cotton Soil). Mechanized Opencast Mining, without Drilling and Blasting, with deployment of heavy earth moving machineries of low HP will be adopted. The average depth of over burden black cotton soil is 1.25 m. The maximum depth of the Mine will be of 3.0 m only. About 11,26,125 Tonnes of Top Soil will have to be removed as Overburden (OB) in the Plan Period to win 15,01,500 Tonnes of Lime Kankar. The ratio of Ore to OB works out to be 1:0.75. About 1,25,000 Tonnes of OB/Clay (Black Cotton Soil) will be utilized in the First Plan Period for cement manufacturing and balance OB will be refilled simultaneously in the Lease voids. Mine Profile : Proved Lime Kankar Reserves : 2.427 Million Tonnes Proposed Lime Kankar Production : 0.5 MTPA (max.) Ore:OB Ratio : 1: 0.75 Life of the Mine : 10 years No. of working days/annum : 300 (2 shifts) Pit Configuration : 20 m x 8 m strips Bench Height : - Bench Width : - Bench Slope : - Ultimate Pit Limit-Conceptual : 3 m (bgl); Top RL 64-65 m & Bottom RL 61-62 m Ground Water-table at : 20 m bgl (Postmonsoon) & 25 m (Premonsoon) 45 m RL (Post Monsoon) 40 m RL (Pre Monsoon) Mining will not intersect the ground water-table. RCL is proposing to establish a Wet Beneficiation Plant at Quarry Lease-I (Washing, Grinding and Floatation) for the ROM Kankar from the Quarry Leases to reduce the Silica Content and enhance the quality of ROM Kankar in meeting the cement plants quality requirement. Till the Wet Beneficiation Plant is commissioned, the existing practice of simple Dry Screening as in Maravarperungudi Mines will be continued to screen-off the interstitial Clay. After screening, the product material will be dispatched to Pandalgudi Crusher for further processing. The screened reject will be separately stacked in the mine itself. Ensyscon, Chennai-78. The Ramco Cements Limited Vadakkunatham Lime Kankar QL -123.26.5 Ha; 0.5 MTPA - Virudhunagar Dist., TN RCL has its own black top road from existing Kankar Mines nearby to Pandalgudi Crusher. The same road will be extended to this Lease for transport of the Minerals. As it is a shallow mining upto a depth of 3.0 m BGL and simultaneous refilling is proposed, there will not be any water seepage or water harvesting in the Mine Pit. The mine requires about 3 cu.m/day drinking water for domestic consumption which will be supplied from the RO Plant at Pandalgudi Mine. Domestic sewage generation will be about 2.5 cu.m/day which will be biologically treated in a Septic Tank followed by a Dispersion Trench. No workshop is proposed and thus, no effluent generation from the Mine. The Mine will also require about 2 cu.m/day for Dust suppression Haulage Road within the Lease Area and another 25 cu.m/day during rainy season and 50 cu.m/day during other seasons for the development and maintenance of Green Belt. The required water will be sourced from existing Captive Mine Pits in Pandalgudi Region. Out of the total area of Quarry Lease (123.26.5 Ha.), Green Belt and Afforested Area will be about 45.0 Ha with 36.50 % coverage at Conceptual Stage. This mine will employ about 30 persons directly and 30 persons indirectly. The capital cost of the Project is Rs.4.20 crores. An amount of Rs.7.00 Lakhs has been earmarked as Capital EMP Budget and Rs.5.00 Lakhs per Annum is the Operating Cost towards EMP measures, Green Belt maintenance, Environmental Monitoring, etc. Also, an amount of Rs.3.00 Lakhs per Annum has been earmarked for Occupational Health & Safety Measures. A budget of 1% of the Project Cost will be allotted as CER Budget. In addition, for the mandatory District Mineral Federation (DMF) @ 10% of Royalty Amount will also be contributed. The Quarry Lease-V is located in Vadakkunatham village between the Coordinates 09o19’04’’ N to 09o20’07’’ N Latitudes and 78o12’32’’ E to 78o13’38’’ E Longitudes (Survey of India Topo sheet No. 58 K/3). The site is free from seismic effects (Seismic Zone III). There is no environmental issue about the Mines location. There are no eco sensitive areas like National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Reserved Forests, Elephant Corridor, Mangroves, Archaeological/Historical Monuments, Heritage sites, etc. within 10 km from the site boundary. The distance of the nearest village Vadakkunatham (in south) is about 1.5 km and Suddhamadam (in north-northwest) is about 1.6 km from the Lease boundary. Cluster Approach : There is a Lime Kankar Minor Mineral Quarry i.e.Maravarperungudi Quarry Lease-I within 500 m from QL-V.