DETAILED INFORMATION DOSSIER (DID) ON IRON ORE IN INDIA CONTENTS PART-I: GENERAL INFORMATION ON IRON ORES - INDIAN AND

WORLD RESOURCES IN BRIEF CHAPTER 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2 3 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 5 5.1 5.2 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 GENERAL INFORMATION ON IRON ORES Introduction Uses Commercial Grades And Specification Market Price WORLD IRON ORE RESOURCES INDIAN RESOURCES PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE World Scenario Indian Scenario Export Scenario of Iron Ore GEOLOGICAL SETTING, GENESIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS Geological Setting Geological distribution and brief description of deposit FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR IRON ORE DEPOSITS IN INDIA Demand of Iron Ore Augmentation of iron ore Optimum utilization of iron ore

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PART-II: STATEWISE DISTRIBUTION AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS OF INDIA CHAPTER 1 1.1 1.2 12.1 1.2.2 1.2.3 1.2.4 1.2.5 1.2.6 1.2.7 1.2.8 1.2.9 1.2.10 ANDHRA PRADESH General Description Districtwise Description of the Deposits Khammam and Warangal Districts East Godavari District Anantapur District Adilabad District Cuddapah District Karimnagar District Kurnool District Krishna District Nellore District Guntur District

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1.2.11 1.2.12 2 2.1 3 3.1 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 4 4.1 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.5 4.2.6 5 5.1 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.2.5 5.2.6 5.2.7 5.2.8 5.2.9 6 6.1 6.2 6.2.1 7 7.1 8 8.1 8.2

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Prakasham District Chittoor District ARUNACHAL PRADESH General Description ASSAM General Description Districtwise Description of the Deposits Goalpara District Bongaigaon District Kokrajhar District CHHATISGARH General Description Districtwise Distribution of the Deposits Bastar District Durg District Deposits of Bordering area of Durg and Kanker Districts Dantewara District Kanker District Raigarh District GOA Geological Setting Geological distribution and brief description of deposit General Description Description of the Individual Deposit on the Basis of Genetic Type Bicholim-Pale Type Sacorda-Pissurlem Type Codli-Sigao Type Costi-Quirlapale Type Barazan-Viliena Type Rivona-Columba-Canvorem Type Netrolim-Camona Type Betul-Nuem Type Other Deposits HARYANA General Description Districtwise Description of the Deposits Mahendragarh District HIMACHAL PRADESH General Description JAMMU & KASHMIR General Description Districtwise Description of the Deposits 1

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8.2.1 8.2.2 9 9.1 9.2 9.2.1 9.2.2 9.2.3 10 10.1 10.2 10.2.1 10.2.2 10.2.3 10.2.4 10.2.5 10.2.6 10.2.7 10.2.8 10.2.9 10.2.10 10.2.11 10.2.12 10.2.13 10.3 10.3.1 10.3.2 10.3.3 11 11.1 11.2 11.2.1 11.2.2 11.2.3 11.2.4 11.2.5 12 12.1 12.2 12.2.1 12.2.2. 12.2.3 12.2.4 12.2.5

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Poonch District Udhampur District JHARKHAND Introduction Districtwise Description of Deposits Singhbhum District Palamau District Minor Occurrence in Jharkhand KARNATAKA General Description Districtwise Description of Banded Iron Formation Bellari District Chikmagalur District Shimoga District Chitradurga District North Kanara District Tumkur District Bijapur District South Kanara District Dharwar District Hassan District Mandya District Mysore District Raichur District Districtwise Description of Titaniferous and Vanediferous Magnetite Ore Deposits Shimoga District North Kanara District Mandya District KERALA Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Calicut-Kojhikode Districts Mallapuram District Kottayam District Palghat District Quilon District MADHYA PRADESH Introduction Districtwise Description of Deposits Jabalpur District Chhatarpur District Balaghat District Dewas District Dhar District 2

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12.2.6. 12.2.7 12.2.8 12.2.9 12.2.10 12.2.11 12.2.12 12.2.13 12.2.14 12.2.15 12.2.16 12.2.17 13 13.1 13.2 13.2.1 13.2.2 13.2.3 13.2.4 13.2.5 14 14.1 14.2 14.2.1 15 15.1 15.2 15.2.1 16 16.1 16.2 16.2.1 16.2.2 16.2.3 16.2.4 16.2.5 16.2.6 17 17.1 17.2 17.2.1 17.2.2 17.2.3 17.2.4 17.2.5

Gird District Betul District Jhabua District Nimor (Khandwa) District Rajgarh District Sagar District Satna District Sidhi District Tikamgarh District Gwalior District Mandsaur District Narsimhapur District MAHARASHTRA Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Sindhudurg District Gadchiroli District Chandrapur District Bhandara District Satara(N) District MEGHALAYA Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Jaintia Hill District NAGALAND Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Twensang District ORISSA Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Keonjhar District Sundargarh District Jajpur District Nawarangpur District Mayurbhanj District Sambalpur District RAJASTHAN Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Jaipur District Jhunjhunu District Sikar District Udaipur District Bundi and Bhilwara Districts 3

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17.2.6 17.2.7 17.2.8 18 18.1 18.2 18.2.1 18.2.2 18.2.3 18.2.4 19 19.1 19.2 19.2.1 20 20.1 20.2 20.2.1 20.2.2

Jodhpur District Bharatpur District Alwar District TAMIL NADU Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Salem and Tiruchirapally Districts Dharampuri District South Arcot and North Arcot Districts Niligiri District UTTAR PRADESH Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Mirzapur District WEST BENGAL Introduction Districtwise Description of the Deposits Burdwan District Birbhum District

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PART-I
GENERAL INFORMATION ON IRON ORES : INDIAN AND WORLD RESOURCES IN BRIEF

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CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INFORMATION ON IRON ORES

1.1 INTRODUCTION Iron is the second most abundant metallic element in the Earths crust and accounts for 5.6% of the lithosphere. The principal minerals of iron are the oxides (haematite and magnetite), hydroxide (limonite and goethite), carbonate (siderite) and sulphide (pyrite). Iron, like most metals, is found in the Earth's crust only in the form of an ore, i.e., combined with other elements such as oxygen or sulfur. Haematite and magnetite are the two important iron ores from which iron is extracted. Of these, haematite is considered to be superior owing to its high grade.

It is the basic raw material for iron and steel industry. Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Iron is extracted from ore by removing oxygen and combining the ore with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon. This process is known as smelting. Since the oxidation rate itself increases rapidly beyond 800 C, it is important that smelting take place in a lowoxygen environment. Smelting results in an alloy (pig iron) containing too much carbon to be called steel. The excess carbon and other impurities are removed in a subsequent step. Other materials are often added to the iron/carbon mixture to produce steel with desired properties. Nickel and manganese in steel add to its tensile strength and make austenite more chemically stable, chromium increases hardness and melting temperature and vanadium also increases hardness while reducing the effects of metal fatigue. To prevent corrosion, at least 11% chromium is added to steel so that a hard oxide forms on the metal surface; this is known as stainless steel. Tungsten interferes with the formation of cementite, allowing martensite to form with slower quench rates, resulting in high speed steel. On the other hand, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus make steel more brittle, so these commonly found elements must be removed from the ore during processing.

Iron has found its usage from a very early part of human civilization, second only to copperbronze. Steel was known in antiquity, and may have been produced by managing bloomeries, iron-smelting facilities, where the bloom contained carbon. The earliest known _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 6

production of steel is a piece of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia (Kaman-Kalehoyuk ) and is about 4,000 years old. Other ancient steel comes from East Africa, dating back to 1400 BC. In the 4th century BC steel weapons like the Falcata were produced in the Iberian Peninsula, while Noric steel was used by the Roman military. The Chinese of the Warring States (403221 BC) had quench-hardened steel, while Chinese of the Han Dynasty (202 BC 220 AD) created steel by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, gaining an ultimate product of a carbon-intermediate steel by the 1st century AD. Evidence of the earliest production of high carbon steel in the Indian Subcontinent was found in Samanalawewa area in Sri Lanka Wootz steel was produced in India by about 300 BC. Along with their original methods of forging steel, the Chinese had also adopted the production methods of creating Wootz steel, an idea imported into China from India by the 5th century AD. During the early part of the civilization, India was an important trade centre of iron smelting which dates back to about 3000 years. Documentary evidences suggests making of various surgical instruments using iron as one of the constituent in 3rd/4th century BC.

Since the 17th century the first step in modern steel production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace. Originally using charcoal, modern methods use coke, which has proven to be a great deal cheaper. With the invention of the Bassemer processes of iron extraction in 1856 and the Basic Open Hearth Process in 1878, the scenario changed. These developments led to significant increase in the world production of steel (which consumes the major share of iron) from 0.5million tones in 1870 to 28 million tones in 1900.The modern smelter for iron ore in India was found in 1877 using the ironstone nodules associated with the Gondwanas of the coal field. The discovery of iron ore deposit in 1904 heralded the industrial revolution. TISCO started producing pig iron in 1911 and steel in 1912. Even today India is one of the leading producers of iron and steel in the world. India has large resources of iron ore as well as population that could consume steel in large quantities. Other iron rich nations are Brazil, Australia, Russia, China and Ukraine etc.

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1.2 USES Iron ore is used mainly for making pig iron, sponge iron and steel. Iron and steel together form the largest manufactured products in the world and each of them enters into every branch of industry and is a necessary factor in every phase of our modern civilization. It is used widely in the construction of roads, railways, other infrastructure, appliances, and buildings. Most large modern structures, such as stadiums and skyscrapers, bridges, and airports, are supported by a steel skeleton. Even those with a concrete structure will employ steel for reinforcing. In addition to widespread use in major appliances and cars, despite growth in usage of aluminum, it is still the main material for car bodies. Steel is used in a variety of other construction materials, such as bolts, nails, and screws. Other common applications include shipbuilding, pipeline transport, mining, offshore construction, aerospace, heavy equipment such as bulldozers, office furniture, steel wool, tools, and armour in the form of personal vests or vehicle armour (better known as rolled homogeneous armour in this role).

Pure iron has relatively few specialized uses. Ingot iron is galvanized for roofing, siding and tanks. In the form of corrugated pipe it is used for culverts. Because of its relatively high purity it is suited to oxy-acetylene welding, both as material to be welded and as welding rod. It is used in vitreous enameling. Its good ductility makes it suitable for deep drawing operation as in the manufacture of appliance parts e.g. washing machine tub, relatively low electrical resistance and high magnetic permeability lead to its use in many types of electrical equipments, generator fields, magnetic parts of relays, magnetic brakes and clutches. Iron ore is also used in ferro-alloy, cement, foundry, vanaspati and glass factories.

1.3 COMMERCIAL GRADES AND SPECIFICATION

Haematite is the main iron ore which is extensively used for manufacture of iron and steel in India. The chemical analysis grade of different varieties of iron ore is given in Table 1.3.1 while table 1.3.2 summarizes the mineralogical characteristics.

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Table 1.3.1: Grade of different types of iron ore Sl no 1. Type of ore Hard laminated ore Values Fe% SiO2% 0.05 1.46 0.48 0.14 5.00 2.77 0.14 1.60 0.78 6.38 11.72 8.57 Al2O3% 2.69 4.59 3.58 3.76 7.53 5.94 1.02 6.76 4.18 11.73 22.61 17.50 Cut off Fe-55%

Minimum 62.16 Maximum 64.81 Average 63.92 Minimum Maximum Average Minimum Maximum Average -----56.37 62.67 60.08 62.12 69.16 64.60 45.85 54.61 48.50

2.

Soft laminated/ Powdery ore Blue dust

Fe-55%

3.

Ferruginous shale/ lateritic ore (Sub grade)

Fe-55%

4.

-----

Fe-45%

Table 1.3.2: Mineralogical Characteristics of haematite ores Ore Type Massive Gangue minerals Haematite, goethite, Quartz, clay martite and magnetite Haematite, goethite, Clay, gibbsite, limonite quartz, chert Goethite, limonite, Clay, gibbsite, haematite, ochre silica Haematite, goethite Quartz, clay Iron bearing minerals Other features Steel grey in colour, Sp.Gr. >5, high crushing strength Laminated structure Sp. Gr: 4.2-4.7 Dull luster, rich in alumina, friable nature Generally blue/dark black or cherty red in colour, powdery form, low alumina

Laminated Lateriritc Blue dust

With the iron and steel industries are becoming increasingly conscious about the need for improving productivity, the approach is towards obtaining cleaner ore with higher Fe content having least gangue and of homogeneous & consistent quality. The specifications of iron ore demanded by coal and gas based plants for manufacture of different type of iron is given in Table 1.3.3.

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Table 1.3.3: Specifications of iron ore for sponge iron manufacturer Chemical Fe% specifications (min) Coal Based 65 Gas Based 66 SiO2% (max) 4.5 3.0 Al2O3% (max) 0.02 0.02 P% (max) 0.04 S% (max) 0.01 Size (in mm) 5-18 6-20

The quality of iron ore required for different iron making processes is given in Table 1.3.4 Table- 1.3.4: Specifications of iron ores for different processes
Characteristics Physical size mm % - 6.3 mm Tumbler Index (% + 6.3mm) Abrasion Index (% - 0.5mm) Shatter Index (% + 10mm) Chemical Total iron Gangue %(SiO2+Al2O3) Sulphur % Phosphorous % Alkali % LOI % Metallurgical Reaction and degradation Index Corex 10-30 -80-85 7.0 max 95.0 min Blast Furnace 6-30 /40 5.0 max 80.0 min 10.0 max 90.0 min Direct Reduction Route Midrex Hyl. Rotary Kiln 6-35 6-25 6-20 5.0 max 2.0 max 2.0 max 90.0 min 85.0 min 90.0 min 7.0 max 10.0 max 7.0 max 95.0 min 90.0 min 95.0 min

65.0 min 4.0 max 0.004 max 0.08 max -

62-65 min 6.0 max 0.01 max 0.05 max 0.02-0.04 2.0 max 35 max

67.0 min 3.2 max 0.015 max 0.015 max 0-15 max 1.5 max 5 max

65.5 min 2.2 max 0.02 max 0.10 max 1.5 max 5max

64.0 min 4.0 max 0.01 max 0.04 max

25 max

7 max

The typical compositions of cast iron are given in the following table 1.3.5. The different grades of pig iron depend upon their contents of silicon, sulphur, phosphorus and manganese. TABLE 1.3.5: TYPICAL COMPOSITION OF CAST IRON Composition Carbon Wt% Silicon Wt% Manganese Wt% Phosphorous Wt% Sulphur Wt% White Iron 1.8 3.6 0.5 2.0 0.2 0.8 0.18 0.10 Malleable Iron 2.0 3.0 0.6 1.3 0.2 0.6 0.15 0.10 Grey Iron 2.5 3.8 1.1 2.8 0.4 1.0 0.15 0.10 Ductile Iron 3.2 4.2 1.1 3.5 0.3 0.8 0.08 0.02

Source: IBM Monograph on Iron Ores (1998)

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1.4. Market Price: Prices are influenced not only by the intrinsic prices of the ore (base price) but also by freight rates. Freight rate demonstrates a more volatile behaviour to the basic price of the ore. The prices of the iron ores of different grades during the period from 2003-04 to 200708 are given below in Table No.1.4.1

TABLE 1.4.1: PRICES OF IRON ORE (DOMESTIC MARKET) 2003-2008 PER TONNE
Grades Lumps 63/63% Fe Lumps 60/59% Fe Fines 63/63% Fe Fines 62/62% Fe Lumps + 65% Fe 62-65% Fe Market 2003-04 FOBT Marmango USD (Berth) Goa 17.39 14.67 -do15.18 14.74 FOBT Noamundi/ Rs 335 Jharkhand (avg) 2004-05 20.63 17.40 18.01 17.48 1020 NA 2005-06 35.88 29.84 30.88 29.99 2317 997 2006-07 42.10 35.51 36.75 35.68 2888 1779 2007-08 46.10 38.89 40.24 39.07 3730 2415

Source: Indian Minerals year book, IBM

CHAPTER 2: WORLD IRON ORE RESOURCES The world reserve base of crude iron is estimated to be 370 billion tonnes (USGS Mineral commodity summary, 2008). The reserve base of iron content of iron ore is estimated to be around 160 billion tonnes. USGS has also estimated that the world resources are estimated to exceed 800 billion tonnes of crude ore containing more than 230 billion tonnes of iron. Iron ore deposits are distributed in different regions of the world under varied geological conditions and in different geological formations. The largest concentration of ore is found in banded sedimentary iron formations of Precambrian age. These formations constitute the bulk of world iron ore resources. The top ten countries in the world in the order of their iron resources were the Common-wealth of Independent States (erstwhile USSR), Australia, Canada, USA, Brazil, India, South Africa, China, Sweden and Venezuela. Ranking of iron ore producing countries was the Commonwealth of Independent States, China, Brazil, Australia, USA, India, Sweden, Canada, South Africa and Venezuela.

The world reserve base of crude iron ore by principal countries is given in Table 2.1 _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010

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Table 2.1: World resources of iron ore by Principal countries Qty: Million tonnes Crude ore Iron content Reserve United States Australia Brazil Canada China India Iran Kazakhstan Mauritania Mexico Russia South Africa Sweden Ukraine Venezuela Other countries World Total (rounded) 6900 15000 23000 1700 21000 6600 1800 8300 700 700 25000 1000 3500 30000 4000 11000 160,000 Reserve base 15000 45000 27000 3900 46000 9800 2500 19000 1500 1500 56000 2300 7800 68000 6000 30000 37,000 Reserve 2100 8900 16000 1100 7000 4200 1000 3300 400 400 14000 650 2200 9000 2400 6200 79,000 Reserve base 4600 28000 14000 2500 15000 6200 1500 7400 1000 900 31000 1500 5000 20000 3600 17000 160,000

Source: U.S.Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2008

CHAPTER 3: INDIAN RESOURCES

India is endowed with huge resource base of 25.24 billion tonnes of iron ore. Hematite and magnetite combined together; Reserves (111, 121, 122) being at 7.06 billion tonnes and Remaining resources (211,221,222, 331, 332, 333 & 334) at 18.18 billion tonnes. Of the total reserve base of 7.06 billion tonnes, hematite accounts for 7.0 billion tonnes and magnetite at 0.60 billion tonnes.

The reserves and resources estimated by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) in different period is presented in Table- 3.1:

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Table 3.1: Reserves and Resources of Iron ore in India

Iron Ore Hematite Resources As on 1980 11,469 Resources As on 1990 12,197 Resources As on 2000 a. Reserves: 6025 Proved (111): 4421 Probable (121): 828 Probable: (122): 774 b. Remaining resources (331, 332, 333,334): 5400 Total: 11,425 a. Reserves: 286 b. Remaining Resources: 10,396 Total: 10,682 a. Reserves: 6,311 b. Remaining Resources: 17,277 Total: 23,588 Resources As on 2005 a. Reserves: 7004 Proved (111): 4945 Probable (121): 995 Probable: (122): 1063 b. Remaining resources (331, 332, 333,334): 7626 Total: 14630 + a. Reserves: 58 b. Remaining Resources: 10,560 Total: 10,619 + a. Reserves:7062 b. Remaining Resources: 18,245 Total: 25,249

Magnetite

6,095

10,590

Total

17,564

22,787

As per UNFC system as on 1.4.2005, India possesses total haematite resources of 14,630 million tonnes of which 7,004 million tonnes are reserves and 7,626 million tonnes are remaining resources. Major haematite resources are located mainly in Jharkhand-4036 million tonnes (28%), Orissa-4761 million tonnes (33%), Chattisgarh-2731 million tonnes (19%), Karnataka-1676 million tonnes (11%) and Goa-713 million tonnes (5%). The balance resources are spread over the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Assam and altogether contain around 4% of haematite (Table 3.2).

Magnetite is the other principal iron ore occurring in the form of oxide which is either of magmatic origin or metamorphosed banded magnetite silica formation, possibly chemogenic sedimentary origin. The magnetite resources are placed at 10,619 million tonnes of which only 58 million tonnes constitute reserves, located mainly in Goa. A major share of magnetite resources is located in Karnataka- 7812 million tonnes (74%), Andhra Pradesh1464 million tonnes (14%), Rajasthan-527 million tonnes & Tamil Nadu-482 million tonnes (5% each), and Goa-214 million tonnes (2%). Assam, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra together account for a meager share of magnetite resources. The _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 13

most important magnetite deposits are located in Babubadan, Kudremukh, Bellary, Anadurga and Bangarkal areas of Karnataka, Goa region - Ongole and Guntur dist. of Andhra Pradesh etc. Other deposits are also located in Jharkhand , Bihar, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Assam. (Source: IBM, Nagpur). Table 3.2: Resources of iron ore (haematite) in the major producing states in 2000 and 2005 As on 1.4.2000 (in million tonnes) Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh Goa Jharkhand Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa 140.01 2120.02 642.11 3044.45 1148.32 200.65 270.70 3789.39 As on 1.4.2005 (in million tones) 163.03 2736.78 712.94 4035.74 1676.22 204.93 265.35 4760.62

The grade-wise and state-wise category-wise reconcilable reserves of haematite and magnetite are shown in the table 3.3. Table - 3.3: Reserves of iron ore (haematite and magnetite) (by grades and states) (In million tonnes) States/ Grade Recoverable Reserves (as on 1-4-2005) Proved Probable Remaining Total Resources HAEMATITE Total 4945 2059 7626 14630 By grades Lump high grade 537 276 396 1209 Lump medium grade 1183 489 1887 3559 Lump low grade 471 678 899 1438 Lump unclassified 8 9 294 311 Fines high grade 146 98 107 351 Fines medium grade 1071 440 1084 2595 Fines low grade 965 131 539 1635 _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 14

Fines unclassified Lumps and fines high grade Lumps and fines medium grade Lumps and fines low grade Lumps and fines unclassified Blue dust Black iron ore Others Unclassified Not known By States Andhra Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Jharkhand Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa Rajasthan Magnetite Total By grades Metallurgical Coal Washery Foundry Others Unclassified Not known By States Andhra Pradesh Bihar/Jharkhand Goa Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa Rajasthan Tamil Nadu

17 213 171 118 40 NA NA NA 0.7 2 NA 0.02 25 570 268 2237 465 21 10 1341 911 7 14 0.4 0.01 0.3 0.2 13 0.3 NA 0.01 11 NA NA 0.5 NA 3 NA NA NA NA NA

5 33 189 236 80 NA 2 0.9 NA 0.7 15 190 191 257 475 13 4 2509 4 44 0.2 3 0.1 0.7 39 0.1

164 127 92 248 285 NA 13

186 373 452 602 405 15 2 1487 163 55 2730 713 4035 1676 205 265 4761 30 10619 2186 8 0.7 25 8112 286 1463 12 214 7811 NA

1487 123 55 1970 254 1541 736 171 251 19 10561 2185 5 0.3 24 8060 286 1463 9 164 7811

3 39 NA 0.1 NA 0.2 1

0.6 0.05 0.2 522 526 481 481 NA: not available

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CHAPTER 4: PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE

4.1 World Scenario World iron ore market has witnessed a healthy growth in last couple of years with rise in Chinese steel production to meet its ever expanding demand. The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) has predicted the world consumption of iron ore at 763 million tonnes in 2005. During 1980-88, the global iron ore market came down heavily on the reason of imbalance in supply and demand for the ore. But towards end of 1988, the world economy started recovering with sign of strong growth of iron ore production as noticed from 1993 onwards. Iron ore mining industry recorded an all time high till the end of 2007 when the global recession severely restricted its growth affecting mining consumption and export. Three largest companies viz., CVRD, Rio Tinto and BHP-Billiton together control about 30% of global production. Among the iron ore producing countries, China (25%), Brazil (18%), Austrialia (14.5%), India (7%) and USA (6%) are the principal producers constituting about 70% of the world the production. World production of iron ore is given in Table4.1a and by the principal countries in the world in the (table No.4.1b).

Table 4.1a: World Production of Iron Ore (in Million tonnes) 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 1085 1059 1104 1232 1370 1544 1826 2043
Source : World Mineral Statistics.

Table 4.1b: World Production by the principal countries (in million tonnes) Country World Total Australia Brazil Canada 2004 1370 234 262 29 2005 1569 262 281 28 2006 1826 275 318 34 2007 2043 299 355 33 16

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China India Iran Kazakstan Russia South Africa Sweden Ukrain USA Venezuela Other Countries

310 146 18 20 95 39 22 66 55 19 55

421 165 26 19 97 40 23 69 54 21 63

588 181 32 18 104 41 23 74 53 22 63

707 204 35 20 105 42 25 78 52 23 65

Source: World Mineral production 2003-07

4.2 Indian Scenario India is an important producer of iron ore in the world contributing more than 7% of the production and ranking fourth in terms of quantity produced following China, Brazil, and Australia. Iron ore production is around 181 million tonnes in 2006-07 growing by 9.5 per cent over the previous year. The share of lumps in total iron ore production has been about 40 % with the rest being accounted for by fines and concentrates. The share of lumps in total iron ore varies across the states depending on the quality of the deposits, operating practices followed and the commercial judgment of the miners. The iron ore quality varies in production according to its Fe content based grade with 83.7 % of the total production having Fe content of 62 % and above. Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Goa are the major iron ore producing states in India. About 22.7 % of the total production was from captively held mines with rest coming from merchant mines. Increase in production have come almost entirely from the existing mines and more so from those in the private non-captive sector. Increase in iron ore production from captive mines was small. Captive mines recorded only 21.6 % growth in output during 2002-03 2006-07 compared to 109 % in the case of non captive mines. Iron ore production growth has been lower in the public sector at 39 % in the last six years compared to 223 % recorded in the private sector.

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Increase in iron ore production has mainly been driven by export demand and consequent increases in the prices of the same in the international market. The sector accounts for about 2.8 per cent of the countrys GDP. India started exporting iron ore after the second world war, particularly to meet the ever expanding requirement of the Japanese steel mills. New areas such as Bellary-Hospet and Chitradurga in Karnataka, Kiriburu in Jharkhand and Bailadilla were developed post World War II period to meet the requirements of Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese steel mills. The Indian iron ore industry has been resilient to the changes in domestic and international demands. A brief account of the Total production of iron ores in India in terms of types is given in Table 4.2.1 and by principal states in Table 4.2.2

Table 4.2.1: Production of Iron Ore, in MT 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Total 122.84 145.94 165.23 Lumps 48.96 58.15 68.30 Fines 67.68 82.54 96.90 Concentrates 6.20 5.25 3.61

2006-07 187 88 98 1

2007-08 206 92 114 0.6

Source: Indian Mineral Year Book, IBM

Table 4.2.1: Production of Iron ore by Principal states (Lumps+Fines), in MT States Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh Goa Jharkhand Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa Rajasthan 2004-05 2.81 23.12 22.67 16.72 37.96 0.21 0.67 41.75 0.03 2005-06 4.15 26.08 24.03 17.98 39.84 0.46 0.52 52.15 0.018 2006-07 5 28 29 18.60 40.70 1.21 0.50 64.10 0.017 2007-08 9 31 29 21 45 2 0.6 68 0.01

Source: Indian Mineral Year Book, IBM

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4.3 EXPORT SCENARIO OF IRON ORE

India has one of the largest iron ore reserves in the world. During 2005-06 India produced 147.27 million tonnes of iron ore. Out of this only 58 million tonnes were used for domestic consumption and the rest was exported. China is the main importer of iron ore from India and in fact India's exports (of iron ore) to China alone are far in excess of its domestic consumption. Iron ores are exported under long term agreements (LTA). The government entered into LTA with Japanese Steel Mills, POSCO, South Korea and Chinese Steel Mills for export of iron ores for a period of five years. The private sector companies do not require permission of the government to export iron ore with iron content less than 64 per cent. However, such companies who own mines are allowed to export iron ore fines having iron content of 64 per cent and above after meeting requirements of domestic consumers and the MMTC Ltd.

CHAPTER 5: GEOLOGICAL SETTING, GENESIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF IRON ORE DEPOSITS

5.1 GEOLOGICAL SETTING

India has large reserves of good quality iron ore. These iron ores occur in different geological rock groups/ formations in different time domains but the largest concentration of economic deposits are found associated with volcano-sedimentary Banded Iron Formation (BIF) of Precambrian age. The BIF, mainly comprising of banded haematite quartzite / banded haematite jasper (BHQ/ BHJ) contains iron in the range of 25 40%. By supergene enrichment, the iron content of this BHQ/BHJ has in many places gone up to about 55 +65% making them very good quality ore. Magnetite dominant deposits are generally associated with banded magnetite quartzite (BMQ) and contain about 25 40% iron. These magnetite ores are often utilized by appropriate beneficiation making the ores suitable for the consumer industries.

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Genetic Type

On the basis of mode of occurrence and origin, the iron ore deposits of India are divided into five groups; viz. Banded Iron Ore Formation, Sedimentary iron ore deposits of sideritic and limonitic composition, Lateritic ores derived from sub-aerial alteration of gneiss, schists etc., Titaniferous and Vanadiferous magnetite deposits and Fault and fissures filling deposits. Amongst these the larger deposits are from the Banded iron ore formation of Precambrian age followed by Titaniferous and Vanadiferous magnetite deposits.

(i)

Banded Iron Formation of Precambrian Age:

The BIF deposit is very well developed in India. Most of the Indian deposits are similar to those of Lake Superior regions of USA, Brazil, Venezuela. Extensive outcrops of BIF are found in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Tamil Nadu. The most common names used in India to designate BIF are Banded Haematite Quartzite (BHQ) and Banded Magnetite Quartzite (BMQ). In other parts of the world, names like taconite (Lake Superior), itabirite (Brazil), jaspilite (Western Australia) and calico rocks (South Africa) have been in use to designate BIF. In recent years BIF has come to be generally acceptable both as field term as well as stratigraphic term to designate iron rich sedimentary rock.

Classification of BIF

Gross (1965) distinguished two main types of iron formations from pre-Cambrian viz. Algoma and Superior. The Algoma type is dominantly Archean in age and characterized by thin banding and absence of oolitic and granular texture, limited in lateral extent and closely associated with volcanic rocks and gray sediments. Carbon and pyrite rich black shales are common. The superior type on the other hand has the characteristic formation of the Proterozoic and is laterally very extensive and closely associated with clastic sediments like quartzite and pelitic rocks without showing any direct relationship with volcanic associations.

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The most common occurrence of banded iron ore formations of India are: a. Archaean schist belts: Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Goa (high grade deposits) b. Granulite terrain of South India: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The BIF of of Archaean schist belt generally possesses the characteristics of both Algoma and Superior types. In Granulite terrains BIF is a weakly banded magnetite- quartzite forming part of a supracrustal sequence of quartzites, mica schists, marbles, metavolcanics and amphibolites completely engulfed in a voluminous mass of a tonalitic gneiss. The formation is highly folded and metamorphosed under granulite facies condition. Typical examples are iron formation from the granulite regions of South India (Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala) that is different from those of the Archaean schist belt.

Thus the iron ore formation within the Indian shield can be divided into two main types: (i) those lying within the high grade region and (ii) those confined to Archaean schist belt. Among these, the first type occurs as narrow, highly deformed and metamorphosed belt within Archean granulites and gneisses and represents formation of an older age group (>3000 My.) formed in distinct tectonic environment and later incorporated within high grade mobile belt. The second and the more extensive type having characteristic of both Algoma and Superior type, is the one confined to the schist belts formed during the period 29002600 Ma. This type of deposits is confined to states of Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattishgarh and Goa. These form important repositories of rich iron ore deposits in India.

Origin of BIF

The origin of BIF is a controversial aspect on which no final opinion has been possible despite years of study in different parts of the world. However it is considered that larger and ore widespread deposits are of sedimentary origin. The volcanic nature of the period during which Archaean iron formation was accumulated has also been recognized (e.g. Isua _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 21

Formation). A controlling factor was probably the composition of ocean water during Archean. The E h and p H of ocean water were significantly different from those of later years.

One view is that iron formation was deposited in shallow inland lakes, fresh water being considered as a more likely vehicle for transportation of silica & iron from crust similar to present day lateritic crust. Period of intense deposition was preceded by a long period of accumulation of dissolved iron and silica in sedimentary basin. Another view is that iron formation is essentially a product of diagenetic replacement of primary carbonate. Although there are evidence of replacement but the process can not account for vast amount of iron in iron formation. The character of late Archean early Proterozoic atmosphere is also taken into consideration for origin of BIF. The atmosphere at that time is believed to have been rich in carbon dioxide, nitrogen and deficient in oxygen. Vast quantities of iron thus get stored at in ocean and lakes. Later on when life first appeared photosynthetic release of bulk oxygen became possible. This oxygen combined with dissolved iron and precipitated it giving rise to iron rich band. But once the dissolved iron was used up there was no further formation of iron. But iron formation as old as 3000 Ma indicates that the build of oxygen in hydrosphere took place much earlier. The destructive chemical composition shown by iron formation restricted mainly to iron and silica to the exclusion of other metallic compounds and origin of uniform banding can not be explained through inorganic chemical precipitation alone.

There are diverse views and concepts of different workers on the origin of BIF. The existing knowledge about the BIF appears not adequate to build a satisfactory theory of origin. Therefore, a single mode of origin for all BIF cannot be thought of.

Characteristics of Ore of BIF Type

The BIF has given rise to vast accumulations of commercial grade iron ore deposits in India, more than 90% of the iron ore supplied to the industry comes from the BIF. The major ore minerals are haematite and magnetite. To assess the resource potentiality of an iron ore _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 22

deposit knowledge of various physical types of ore which are exploited commercially is of utmost importance. The different types of iron ore derived from banded haematite rock met within the deposits of this group are

(i)

Massive ores: Massive and compact ore, generally formed by replacement processes - are dark brown to steel grey, compact ore containing 68-70% Fe. They may form high grade float type deposits when naturally transported and accumulated.

(ii)

Laminated ore: generally formed as residual product of selective chemical leaching are soft, friable, porous in nature and contain 55-60% Fe. They are also called 'biscuity ore'.

(iii)

Shaly ore: are generally met at depth and as the name implies shows structure and texture like that of shale. They may be rich in iron (+ 60% Fe) or or Fe may be as low as 40% with high Si02 and Al203 content, and require beneficiation (washing) before being fed to the furnace.

(iv)

Powdery ores (Blue dust) are soft, porous ores, disintegrate into powder or into very small thin slabs and occur as fairly large pockets. They appear grey-blue and contain 66-69% Fe, but require beneficiation (sintering) before feeding to blast furnace.

In addition float ore accumulation on the slopes and foot of the hills as a result of disintegration of in situ ore bodies are commonly met with. The float ores are of different sizes and of different degree of purity.

(ii)

Sedimentary iron ore deposits of siderite and limonitic composition:

These ores are also known as Bog iron deposit. These ores of siderite and limonitic compositions are found associated with the iron stone shales of lower Gondwana age occurring in the coal fields of Jharkhand and West Bengal and the ferruginous beds in the Tertiary formations of Assam and the Himalayas due to hydration, the sideritic ore often changed to limonite stone near the surface. They are heterogeneous in grade and modes of occurrences. The iron minerals are accumulated as irregular bodies in stream beds and _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 23

typically at the bottom levels of bogs and marshes where lower Gondwana sediments have deposited along with their organic debris. In upper Assam such deposits occur in Lakhimpur and Sibsagar districts and are mainly of two types: clay iron stone and impure limonite.

In Ranigunj area the sedimentary iron ores occur in the form of thin beds of ironstone of variable thickness and frequently in the Ironstones shale Group of the Damuda series in Ranigunj Coalfield. The ore is grey iron carbonate but near the surface it has been converted into brown hydrated oxide. Clay iron stones are also known to occur in the Karanpura and Auranga Coal fields.

(iii)

Laterite ores derived from the sub-aerial alterations:

Laterite types of iron ores are derived from the sub-aerial alteration of rocks, such as gneisses, schists, basic lava etc. under humid tropical conditions. Some of the laterites of suitable composition may become exploitable ore but most of them contain too little of iron and too much of alumina along with other elements like titanium, nickel, chromium and manganese. The ores are generally concentrated at the top as a resultant alteration product of the iron bearing parent rocks and consist of oxidised and insoluble rock constituents. They may consist of nodular red, yellow or brownish haematite and goethite. The capping is usually thicker over the basic rocks which contain high concentration of primary iron associated with nickel, chromium, manganese and titanium. Large stretches of Deccan Traps, the gneisses in the Western Ghats and the Chhotanagpur plateau in Jharkhand and the schistose rocks of many areas like those of Sandur are covered by such lateritic tops.

(iv)

Ores formed by magmatic activity:

A zone of apatite-magnetite rock is found closely associated with the copper belt of Singhbhum. These are supposed to have been formed by magmatic activity associated with pre-Cambrian diastrophic cycle when the rocks of the shear zone were thrust and intruded by acid or intermediate igneous rocks. The rock is usually a mixture of apatite and magnetite with some biotite, chlorite and sub-ordinate quartz and is generally found on the hangingwall side of copper lodes. The apatite magnetite ores are associated with granodiorite. _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 24

(v) Titaniferous and vanadiferous magnetites:

The vanadiferous-titaniferous magnetite deposits of south eastern Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar (Orissa) and Hassan districts (Karnataka) are associated with gabbroid and ultrabasic rocks. This type of ore of Jharkhand and Orissa occurs as thin veins, lenses and pockets in gabbroid and ultrabasic igneous rocks which are often altered to serpentine and steatite or to epidiorite. Both magnetite and ilmenite are present in these ores and in many cases, appreciable amounts of haematite are also seen. In Karnataka small lenses-like bodies of titaniferous magnetites occur in Tumkur district. These are generally associated with ultramafic rocks which occasionally contain chromite also. These deposits contain 55 to 61% iron. In Hassan district titaneferous magnetites occur as linear bands with prominent outcrops in a narrow belt of Dharwar rocks which are composed of amphibolites and hornblende schists surrounded by Peninsular Gneisses and intruded by an ultrabasic complex.

(vi) Fault and fissure filling deposits:

Fault and fissure filling deposits of haematite are minor occurrences, seen in Veldurty and Ramalla Kota in Kurnoor district of Andhra Pradesh. They occur in a fault zone traversing the gneisses and Cuddapah formation over a strike length of several km. The ore bodies form low hillocks or ridges which stand out well above the ground and are lens-shaped; they also form veins and stringers in the fault zone. The ore is generally haematite and is often slightly specular in character and also jaspery when it is siliceous. 5.2 GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT:-

Haematite and magnetite are the most prominent of the iron ores found in India. The iron ores occurs in different geological rock groups/ formations in India but the largest concentration of economic deposits are found associated with volcano-sedimentary Banded Iron Formation (BIF) of Precambrian age. The older magnetite-dominant deposits with bands of magnetite are generally of Algoma type associated with banded magnetite _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 25

quartzites whereas the younger haematite dominant deposits are similar to Lake Superior type, associated with banded haematite quartzite/jasper (BHQ/BHJ) and occur as cappings on hills. Of these, haematite is considered to be superior because of its high grade and occurs as massive, laminated, friable and also in powder form. The major deposits of iron ore are located in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Goa States. About 60% of haematite ore deposits are found in the Eastern sector and about 80% magnetite ore deposits occur in the Southern sector, especially in Karnataka (Plate-I). Extensive deposits of high grade hematite ores are available in the following States: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Jharkhand Orissa Singhbhum district Sundargarh, Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj and Cuttack districts.

Chhatisgarh - Bastar and Durg districts. Karnataka Goa Bellery, Hospet and Chickmagalur districts. North Goa and South Goa

Maharashtra - Surajgarh, Chandrapur and Ratnagiri districts.

Orissa has the highest resources followed by Jharkhand, Chahattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra in order of abundance.

Large resources of low grade magnetite ores occur in Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka has the highest resources of magnetite ore. Major iron ore deposits in India, distributed in several geographical locales are grouped under five zones designated as Zone I to Zone-V, have been identified in the country on commercial ground (Plate II) which are as below:

Zone I-

Occur in the Bonai Iron Ore ranges of Jharkhand, Orissa and adjoining areas of eastern India. This also includes Gorumahisani-Badampahar, Tomka-Daiteri belts.

Zone II

Comprises the iron ore deposits in the long (225 km.) North-south trend in linear belt in central India in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra (East)

Zone III

Occur in Bellary Hospet region of Karnataka. 26

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Zone IV

Includes the rich magnetite deposits of Bababudan Kudremukh areas of Karnataka

Zone V

Cover the rich iron ore of Goa and coastal Maharastra

In addition, magnetite rich banded magnetite quartzite occurs in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

State wise distribution and description of deposits

The larger and rich iron ore deposits are mainly concentrated in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Karnataka and Goa. Comparatively small deposits are situated in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Rajasthan. The occurrences of iron ore deposits are also reported from Assam, Meghalaya Nagaland, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu-Kashmir. Extensive deposits of high grade haematite ore are available in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand; Sundergarh, Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj and Cuttak districts of Orissa; Bastar and Durg districts of Chhattisgarh; Bellary , Hospet and Chickmaglur district of Karnataka, North and South Goa. Comparatively smaller deposits are available in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, Surguja, Chandrapur and Ratnagiri districts of Maharastra. Besides, low grade BMQ (Banded Magnetite Quartzite) ores occur in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Detail description of the deposits belt-wise and sector-wise has been enumerated in Part II of the volume. The age-wise distribution of Indian iron ore deposits is given in Table 5.2.1 and a State-wise locale for iron ores are tabulated given in Table 5.2.2.

Table- 5.2.1: Age-wise distribution of Indian iron ore deposits Formation

Quaternary

Nature of ore
Laterite

Occurrence
Many states derived from many formations including Deccan Traps SouthIndia-Travancore, Malabar etc. Assam, NE states, U.P.Kumaon West Bengal (Birbhum), Jharkhand (Rajmahal)

Tertiary Miocene & Eocene Jurassic Rajmahal Trap (intertrappean beds)

Ironstone

Iron stones

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Gondwana Barakar Mahadeva Triassic Ironstones & shale Cuddapah Bijawar Gwalior Pre-Cambrian Basic & ultrabasic rock Granodiorite Granite Banded Iron Formation

Ironstones & siderite Siderite Ironstones & siderite Haematite & goethite

West Bengal (Birbhum) Jharkhand-Auranga coalfield West Bengal Raniganj coalfield Kashmir

Haematite & ferruginous Madhya Pradesh-Gwalior, Indore quartzite etc.; Andhra Pradesh-Cuddapah Titaniferous and vanadiferous magnetite Apatite magnetite rocks Magnetites (residual) Haematite (massive, shaly, powdery etc.) Jharkhand-SE Singhbhum; Orissa-Mayurbhanj; Karnataka Singhbhum Assam-Jaintia Hills; Karnataka-Kudremukh Orissa- Sundergarh,Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj; Karnataka - Simoga, Bellary -Hospet,Dharwar; Jharkhand - Singhbhun West; Maharashtra - Ratnagiri and Chandrapur ; Chhattisgarh-Bastar (Bailadila) and Durg; Madhya Pradesh - Jabalpur Tamilnadu - Salem, Tiruchirapalli; Kerala; Andhra Pradesh -Guntur ; Karnataka - Shimoga & Chikmagalur; Himachal Pradesh Mandi.

Banded Iron Formation (metamorphosed)

Magnetite-quartzite

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Table - 5. 2. 2: State-wise brief description of iron ore deposits Ore Minerals 4 Haematite (BIF)

Name of the State General description of deposit 1 2 JHARKHAND Iron ore, principally haematite in (including BIHAR) banded iron formation occurs in a number of prominent hills in south western part of Singhbhum district. Besides, titaneferous magnetite and apatite magnetite are also found in SE Singhbhum.

Ap-magnetite

Ti-magnetite Magnetite Haematite (BIF)

ORISSA

Precambrian Iron Ore Group of rocks of Singhbhum-Keonjhar Bonai belt containing high grade haematitic ore are running through Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts . Apart from haematite, magnetite (Ti bearing)also noted from several places.

Name of the deposits 3 I. Haematite deposit A) Singhbhum Distt : Noamundi, Gua, Borajamda, Kiriburu, Neghatuburu, Manoharpur, Chiria B) Ranchi Distt : Sikorda, Bagdanr, Mahantol C) Minor occurrences in Santhal Pargana, Bhagalpur, Dhanbad, Hajaribagh, Sahabad Dists. II. Magnetite deposit : A) Singhbhum Distt. 1) Ramchandra Pahar, Kudada, Patharghora, Khejurdari 2) Dublabera, Sindurpur. B) Palamau Distt. : Gore village, Sua & Kauria areas, Biwabathan. I. Haematite deposit A) Keonjhar Distt.: Thakurani, Bolani, Jhillinglangallota, Joda, Gandhamardan, Malangtoli, Bansapani, Guali, Gurubera and minor occurrence from Jajang, Joribahal, Katamati, Bhadrasahi, Koira, Kasia, Kurbandh, Dulki, Jolahuri, Baldo etc. B) Sundargarh Distt.: Barsua, Mankarnacha, Balia Pahar, Khondadhar, Mithurda, Patroposi. C) Jajpur Distt. : Tomka, Daitari D) Mayurbhanj Disttt.: Gorumahisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar E) Nawarangpura Distt.: Hirapur Umrakot F) Sambalpur Distt.: Lohakhand-Naibassa Hill G) Dhenkanal Distt.: Malaygiri range

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1 II. Magnetite deposit a) Ti-bearing magnetite from Kumardubi, Betjharan, Nahapahari and SW of Baripada b) Puri Distt : Chilka Lake c) Dhenkanal Distt : Basudebpur, Murhi

4 Magnetite (Ti-bearing) Magnetite (Sand) Magnetite (Lateritic) Haematite (BIF)

CHHATISGARH

Precambrian Iron Ore Group of rocks consists of banded haematitejasper/quartzite, similar to Singhbhum-Keonjhar iron ore belt are found in several parts of MP and Chhatisgarh State. Large deposits of excellent quality of iron ore are found in Bastar and Durg districts.

MADHYA PRADESH

I. Haematite deposit A) Bastar Distt: Rowghat area, Chhotadongar deposit B) Dantewara Distt.: Bailadila range includes fourteen deposits numbered 1 to 14 C) Durg Distt.: Dalli-Rajhara, Kanchar, Jharandali, Kondekosa and minor occurrences near Khairagarh, Berla, Katul Kassa, Jurla Khar etc. D) Kanker Distt.: Ari Dongri. Besides this there are smaller deposits in Dulki, Kalwar, Dongar bar, Lohattar in bordering area of Durg district. E) District with minor occurrence : Jashpur, Bilashpur, Raigarh districts. Precambrian Iron Ore Group of I. Haematite deposit rocks consists of banded haematite- A) Jabalpur Dist: Kanhwar plateau, Agaria, jasper/quartzite. Bijori, Ghosalpur, Lora hill, Ghoghra, Silondi, Saroli etc. B) Chattarpur Dist: Dalipur, Nimkhera, Deora, Chungwah etc. C) Districts with smaller occurrence: Betul, Jhabua, Nimar, Rajgarh, Sagar, Satna, Sidhi, Tikamgarh, Gwalior, Mandsaur, Narasimhapur etc.

Haematite (BIF)

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1 KARNATAKA

2 Iron ore deposit of Kranataka are classified into three types : 1. Banded ferruginos quartzite of Dharwarian age containing haematite 2.Metamorphosed banded magnetite-quartzite containing magnetite 3.Magnetic deposit containing titaneferous magnetite associated with ultrabasic rock.

I) Haematite deposit A) Belary Distt.: Bellary-Hospet deposit B) Chitradurga Distt.: Sivaganga and Hiriyur, Medikeripura, Kadlegudam, Bhimasamudra, Vajra etc. C) Shimoga Distt.: Siddarahalli, Channagiri, Joldhal, Ganpur, Bhadigund, Shankargudda and Kumsi area, Chattanhalli, AgumbeVisaniguda, Kodachadri, Kotebare. D) Bijapur Distt.: Amingarh, Bassargi, Bisnal, Aihole, Hiremagi-Ramthal E) North Kanara Distt.: Halkhamba, Shiroli, Kunang, Kalinadi, Hudsa, Anmod, KuveshiDiggi, Joidu, Talaginkere, Mavingundi, Huntaganis, Yellapur. F) Tumku, district, Karikurikhi, Chikanayakanhalli, Janehara, Kuni, etc. G) Minor occurrences: Bijapur, Dakshin Kannada, Dharwar, Hassan, Mysore districts. II) Magnetite deposit Magnetite (BIF) A) Chikmagalur Distt.: Bababudam Hill, Kudremukh, Gangamula. B) North Kanara Distt.: Kodalgadde Apsarakonda C) Mandya Distt.: Muddur, Tippur, Husegu & Vanediferous magnetite Hullahalli. D) Chikmagalur Distt. Near Masanikere close to Bhadravati.

4 Haematite (BIF)

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GOA

2 A large number of iron ore deposits are concentrated here. The banded haematite quartzite rocks of precambrian age are generally confined to pink phyllite horizon. Ore minerals principally are haematite with smaller occurrences of magnetite, limonite and goethite.

4 Principally Haematite (BIF) with minor amount of magnetite, limonite and goethite

MAHARA-SHTRA

In Mahara-shtra,iron ore deposits are found associated with IOG of Archean. It comprises older schists and unclassified crystalline overlain by metamorphosed sedimentary rock such as quartzite,BHQ, phyllite etc. Ores are derived mostly from the BHQ by leaching of silica.

3 From NW to SE more than thirty iron ore deposits have been identified. These are 1) Advalpale 2) Nanora 3) Bicholem-Sirigao 4) Bordem-Savorna 5) Sanguelim 6) Arvalem 7) Cudnem Dignemsurla 8)Velguem-Pale 9) Pissurlem-Sonshi 10) Usgao 11) Conquirem 12) Poient-Siudem 13) Sacorda 14) Sonal Deven 15) Gavarem-Malpona 16) Balcoruem 17)Bimbol-Sigao 18) Suetioli-Taitoli 19) Codli 20) Samtona-Quirlapale 21) Codli 22Dudal 23) Kalay 24) Manlinguem 25) Tolem-Motto 26) Barazan -Villena 27) Sirigal-Undorna-Angod 28) Rivona-Columba 29) Canvorem-Navelim 30) Sulcorna-Vichundrem 31) Netrolim 32)Camona Conda 33) Betul I) Haematite Deposit A) Sindhudurg Distt. Redi, Tirvade-AjgaonGuldave, Satcli-Starda, Satcli-Talwane, Talesane-ajgaon, Kalne, Podye DegveBanda, Galel, Galel North and Galel South. B) Chandrapur Distt.: Lohara, Pipalgaon, Asola C) Gadchiroli Distt.: Surajgarh, Bhamragarh, Dewalgaon, Puser, Damkodwadvi hill range. D) Bhandara Distt.: Khursipar, Konholi. E) Ratnagiri Distt.: Malvan, Kunda, Savantvadi. F) Minor occurrences from Kolhapur, Nagpur, Satara(N) Nanded, Yeotmal Districts.

Haematite (BIF)

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1 ANDHRA PRADESH

2 3 4 Most of iron ore deposits are found I) Haematite deposit Haematite (BIF) associated with rocks of Dharwar A) Anantapur Distt.: Balapuram, Siddapuram, sediment or Purana formations. Rayadurg Taluk, Malapanangudi, However low grade iron ore are also Velpurnadugu, Kambadur, Gollapalle, known from upper Gondwana and Oddapalem, Muchalapalle laterite cappings on Deccan Traps. B) Cuddapah Distt. : Chabali area, Rajampet, Both haematite and magnetite Ponduluri Venkatapalli, Erraguntakota, deposits occur in the state. Mantapampalle, Pendlimari and Pagadalapalle C) Kurnool Distt. : Veldurti, Ramallakota. D) Nellore Distt.: Rassnapalem, Chundi hill, Polenane, Cheruvu, Swarnamukhi valley. E) Khammam & Warangal Distts.: Cheruvupuram, Kottagudem, motala Timmapur, Nilanche, Bayyaram, Opulapuram Magnetite (BIF) II) Magnetite deposit 1) Prakasham Distt. a. Ongole Gr- Pernametta, Ongole, Konijedu, Sanampudi bands. b. Gundal kamma gr. Byrepalle, Errapale, Timmavaram and Manikeshvaram. 2) Khammam Distt. : Utla, Tatraiyapalli, Gopalpur 3) Vishakhapatnam Distt- Sitarampur, Darbanblom Konda 4) East Godavari Distt -Addatigala, Devipuram. Besides above deposits. iron ores are also reported from Adilabad, Chittoor, Guntur, Karimnagar, Krishna, Medak, Nizamabad, Vishakhapatnam, Srikakulam,and Warringal districts of Andhra Pradesh. 33

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CHAPTER 6: FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR IRON ORE DEPOSITS IN INDIA

Iron and steel is considered as the backbone of the modern economy. Consumption of steel is used as a yardstick for measuring industrial growth and socioeconomic development of a nation. The economic reformation and consequent liberalization of iron and steel sector brought a remarkable change in core sector industries, particularly in private sector. India has become self sufficient in iron and steel during the last few years. Iron ore is one of the basic raw materials for iron and steel industry. India has large resource of good quality iron ore that can meet the growing demand of domestic iron and steel industries and can sustain considerable export. Iron ore has been major foreign exchange earner for India.

6.1 DEMAND OF IRON ORE

Iron ores produced in India go mainly either into export or into domestic consumption. India is a major global player in iron ore production and third in the world trade of iron ore after Australia and Brazil. Export of iron ore which was 62.5 million tonnes in 2003-04 was increased to 91.43 million tonnes in 2006-07 and again decreased to 68.47 million tonnes in 2007-08. The growth of steel industry in India during last three/four years also registered a significant upward trend and expected to swim depending on overall economic growth rate. Iron ore demand depends on the production of iron and steel which in turn depends largely on the domestic demand for the same. The prospective investors like Tata steel, TataCorus, Jindal Power and Steel, Global steel giants POSCO, Arcelar Mittal and other major industrial houses are to invest in steel sector in India. Recent UNCTAD report states of 375 million tonnes new production capacity round the world is likely to be on board by 2007-09. According to the 11th Plan Working Group on Steel, demand for iron ore would rise to 130 million tonnes by 2011-12. The national steel policy has envisaged the target of steel production at 110 million tonnes by 2019-2020 which will be requiring ~170 million tonnes of iron ore. A target set in the national steel policy suggests a production of 300 million tonnes of iron ore by 2019-20 to meet export and domestic demand.

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The path of growth of Indian steel sector was progressing fast before global cash crunch which has threatened global as well Indian infrastructure sector. Steel production globally was maintaining a rapid growth with strong performance, but currently moving through a challenging phase where growth has to fallen substantially both in India as well as in the international market. Future demand projection will bound to have a set back. Obvious result will be less demand of iron ore leading to less mining and production. While the current prospects for Indian iron ores/steel in a global context are debatable, domestic prospects appear bright. The very long term forecast of iron and steel production and the consequent demand for iron ore made on optimistic assumptions also show that the steel industry can remain comfortable with domestic iron ore supplies even with an annual iron ore export of 100 million tonnes till about 2070 at the current estimates of resources in the country. However in this write up it has been presumed that global economic crunch scenario will overcome the bad patch and demand for iron ore will increase in future to maintain a steady growth rate. To achieve the iron ore demand of the future, strategy should be changed for making available adequate iron ore resources by way of systematic exploration. The real necessity is for vigorous exploration and exploitation matching domestic requirements, massive export commitments, value additions as well as infrastructure developments. India must have clear strategy for next 20-25 years for augmenting the resources with proper orientation of exploration in geologically potential domains keeping in view the exploitation of the existing established resources.

6.2 Augmentation of iron ore Geological potential for hosting yet undiscovered concealed iron ore deposits in India are very high. Scientific and detailed exploration needs to be carried out in search of new iron ore deposits for augmentation of resources and to conduct reassessment of existing iron ore resources to meet the present and future demands of iron ore. India stopped exploration for iron ore by the largest government agencies like Geological Survey of India and Mineral Exploration Corporation for two decades towards the end of last century and even after that, the exploration revival has not yet taken a war footing, such as in many other countries of the world, to identify new iron ore deposits, to quantitatively establish the detailed geological parameters or to evaluate mining feasibility etc, in any large scale manner. _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 35

Reconnaissance, Prospecting, General exploration data along G axis and Geological Study along F-axis of UNFC need to be consolidated for identification of prospects for Prefeasibility, Feasibility studies (F-axis) in order to evaluate economic viability (Economic axis). Identification of large deposit should be attempted both by model driven approach and inductive techniques. It is time now to plan our future exploration strategy in a long term perspective.

Total resources potentiality of hematite magnetite iron ore is yet to be known in the country. GSI through regional exploration and mapping has identified more than 90% of hematite iron ore deposits of the country. About 80% of magnetite ore is found in South India in the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The major deposits which constitute almost 74% of the total resources (Kudemukh and Bababudan deposits etc ) lie in forest area in Karnataka(7663.34 million tones). The other deposits with significant resources lie in Andhra Pradesh 1463.54 million tones, Rajasthan 522.65 million tones, Tamil Nadu 481.87 million tones and Goa 164.05 million tones. As there is huge resources of haematite iron ore in the country, estimation of magnetite resources was not a priority area. Even though the important and large magnetite deposits of then country have been explored and magnetite ore concentrates and pellets were being produced from Kudremukh iron ore; exploration for magnetite ore was in a low priority. As there is huge demand of iron ore in the country, it is important that the magnetite ore bodies are also assessed to know the total potentiality of iron ore in the country. The banded magnetite quartzite bands in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Rajasthan have to be assessed by regional exploration followed by detailed exploration in the promising areas.

It has been observed in many places that along with mining, iron ore deposits are being discovered and explored which ultimately has augmented ore resources. It is worth mentioning that even after extensive mining the resource of hematite iron ore has increased by 3204 million tones in five years between 2000 and 2005. Even during these period reserves has also increased from 6025 million tones to 7004 million tonnes. The exploration was conducted mainly in the leasehold areas by the mining Companies. Out of 14630 million tones of total resources of hematite iron ore resources is 7004 million tones which _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 36

means there is scope to convert 7626 million tones of remaining resources to reserve through detailed exploration and feasibility studies. Of the total resources of 10619 million tones of magnetite ore reserves constitute only 206 million tones warranting immediate exploration to convert resources to reserve.

All these activities will augment the iron ore reserves / resources in the country. In addition, iron ore occurring in different geological formation, if assessed, will augment the iron ore resources of the country. Hence there is scope for assessment in new areas and reassessment in the areas where mining is under operation or under active consideration. The future exploration activities have to be carried out to augment resources over the known deposits which were not explored earlier in totality and in greenfield areas of identified potential domains.

The total potential area for iron ore in different geological domains tentatively identified in the country is around 7000 sq km. It includes around 6000sq km potential domain in peninsular India and around 1000 sq. km in extra Peninsular regions of the country. These potential areas are mainly those geological domains where BIF, which is the host rock for iron ore, are exposed. Out of the potential areas of 7000sq km, the area explored is around 5900 sq. km. As very scanty and marginal investigation has so far been carried out in the extra peninsular region of J&K state and Himachal Pradesh, the bulk of 1000 sq km potential area in the extra peninsular India may be treated as greenfield areas. Thus the total Greenfield areas within the tentatively identified potential areas in both Peninsular and extra-Peninsular region is around 2000 sq km which is to be assessed by reconnaissance mineral investigation under green field area exploration. The remaining explored 5000 sq km area of the potential domain within the peninsular India warrant reassessment.

a. Scope of Reassessment work in explored areas:

The current estimate does not give a complete picture of Indias iron ore resources. Most of the resource estimates of iron ore deposits were made at least three decades ago which were later modified marginally. The reassessment is needed in the following areas: _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 37

I.

Exploration by deeper proving: These earlier exploration schemes and the final estimates were dictated by the then purpose of exploration, the stage of exploration, the desired category of reserve/resource to be established at the stipulated level of depth and accuracy, size and type of the deposits etc. In many cases during earlier exploration within powdery ore or blue dust, drilling was abandoned and resources were estimated considering blue dust has no economic use. As of now blue dust or powdery ore has economic interest, hence such deposits have to be reassessed by carrying out further exploration down to the bottom of powdery ore. It appears in Malangtoli Group of deposits in Orissa, out of 19 deposits (designated Deposit A to Deposit S) a total of 13 deposits were explored partly and resources of 300 million tones of ore were estimated. There is possibility of substantial augmentation of ore resources if all the deposits are explored up to the desired depth.

Depth of exploration is a key dimension of the resource estimation. According to industry experts, the assessments made on the potential reserves of iron ore seem to be based on mining depth of 50 meters with a grid interval of more than 500 meters or so. But iron ore can be available to far greater depths as has been experienced by several mines in India itself. For example, in Karnataka, it has been contended that the reserves are based on a 40 meters depth only whereas mining has been carried out to a depth of up to 200 meters. The mining industry contends that in other countries the mining depth has reached more than 200 meters. Mining depth depends on the specific conditions and there are no uniform geophysical conditions prevailing across the world. But from the experience so far, there seems to be a good potential for Indian miners to find more resources by digging deeper. At current prices of iron ore, mining to such depth is viable.

II.

Systematic exploration in leasehold areas: In all the leasehold areas of both private and public sectors, where maximum quantity of known iron ore resources are locked in, proper data evaluation is needed to assess the reserve and resources balances and examine whether the exploration was done in totality or there is still scope to augment reserves/resources through further exploration. Most of the evaluated resources are of

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indicated (332) or inferred (333) category. In this context, close spaced deep drilling may be undertaken to estimate proved reserve (111,121) / resource (331, 321) of iron ore deposits. Effort should be made for proper planning of exploration in virgin areas and gaps within the mining leases for searching new resources. GSI has initiated search for iron ore in parts of Tomka-Daitari belt in Orissa where discontinuous iron ore bodies are confined within BIF. Prospecting in remaining part of the belt will augment the ore resources. The total assessment in each property will augment the iron ore resources in the country.

III.

Exploration in Forest areas: Many of the iron ore deposits lie in forest areas. The total resource potentialities of such deposits are not known. The example being Bailadila deposits no.2 (part 3,6,7,8,9 and 12) in Chhattisgarh. All these come under forest areas requiring necessary clearance. Ghatkuri iron ore deposit lying in Jharkhand, could not be explored due to forest problem. This deposit lies in the belt which host a number of large iron ore deposits. There are many deposits in forest areas. Such deposits have to be assessed in totality to augment iron ore resources in the country.

IV.

Exploration of iron ore beyond BHJ/BHQ: Steps may be taken to examine for availability of iron ore resources beyond the BHJ/BHQ Formations

V.

Reassessment due to lowered cut-off: Previously the resource and reserves were calculated based on arbitrary 55% Fe as cut off to produce a mineable ore but recently IBM has lowered threshold value of iron ore to +45% Fe. The lowest grade which can be economically exploited at a particular time is the cut off grade. The level of cut off grade varies and is determined by market conditions keeping obviously the conservation point of view as these are non-renewable resources. Earlier enriched banded iron formation (BIF) containing 45-55% Fe was not considered as ore. New ore enrichment techniques have made the use of lower grade ore and there is availability of such type of ore, but quantity of such ore is unknown because that low grade material was not estimated earlier. It has been geologically observed that in many iron ore deposits, iron ore (+55% Fe) on the top passes through enriched BIF (50-55% Fe)

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to BIF (<50% Fe) due to supergene enrichment. In earlier occasions enriched BIF with 50-55% Fe was not considered as ore and does not figure in the resource table. As the cut-off grade is lowered from 55%m to 45% Fe, the material with 50 % Fe to (+) 45% Fe will form part of iron ore.

The new prospects and area within existing mine requires reassessment through optimization based on economic grade and scheduled for production based on market demand. Such exercise would obviously enhance the resource base to a great extent. A well designed exploration programme need to be mounted in the explored area for low grade (+45%Fe) iron ore which occurs in one of the following modes: a. b. c. d. Low grade partings within the high grade ore (Shaly ore). In hanging wall and footwall side of the ore zone or as separate bands. On top in the lateritic profile (Lateritic and limonitic ore) As bottom of established ore within zone of enrichment above proto ore.

b. New Prospective areas for iron ore exploration:

Although economically viable deposits can exist in different geological setups, exploration for iron ore was mostly confined to Banded Iron Formation (BHQ/BHJ/BMQ) where bulk of the countrys deposits exists. GSI has initiated steps to identify new potential areas for iron ore occurrence both in BIF and also in other non BIF hosted setup like: i) prospect of iron ore in structurally controlled domains in the form of vein forming mineral occurrences in cratonic portions of Peninsular India ii) ferruginous metamorphosed argillitic sequences in different Precambrian-early Proterozoic terrains of extra peninsula iii) Magmatic iron ore occurrences associated with intrusive mafic rocks in granulite terrains of Southern Peninsular India and iv) other geologically favourable domains of Rajasthan and Lower Assam. An area of around 5000 sq km has been tentatively identified for reconnaissance stage investigation (G-4 stage) to narrow down the target areas for future intensified mineral search through progressive higher stages of investigation. The favorable potential segments identified for reconnaissance stage investigation in these new Greenfield areas are as follows: _________________________________________________________________________ DID, IRON ORE, 2010 40

(a) (b) (c)

Mahakoshal fold belts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Pur-Banera and other similar belts of Mangalwar complex of Rajasthan. Favourable portions within the Granulite terrain of southern peninsula, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

(d)

Potential portions within supra crustal belts of southern peninsula, particularly Andhra Pradesh.

(e) (f)

Granulite belts of the Archaean gneissic complex of lower Assam. Metamorphosed Precambrian sequences of the J&K state and metamorphosed Proterozoic sequences of Himachal Pradesh.

6.3 Optimal utilization of iron ore: In order to achieve the optimal utilization of iron ore in any deposit, the mineable cut off in the light of lowering of threshold value of haematitic ore is of utmost importance and gradewise inventory of ores are the demand of the day and therefore scheduling of the deposit is essential through optimization. Optimization is necessary in planning and development of iron ore deposits. Scheduling of deposits help in creating stock piles of lower grade material that could be blended back later in the mines life thereby enhancing the reserve base. The method works on a regular block model of the ore body and constructs lists of the blocks that should or should not be mined. A series of scheduling of blocks need be created. Different ROM products need be considered and stored as data in blocks. Each block should figure total rock volume, tonnage and grade. Various types of blending of ore could either be sent to the customer or to separate high and low grade Fe and contaminant stock piles for reclaiming. Another significant statistics is the use of iron ore fines. In 2005-06, out of total production of 154.4 million tonnes of iron ore in India 87.9 million tonnes was fine which constitute 56.9% of total production. Since the market of iron ore is expanding and there would be enough scope for utilization of the beneficiated fines, it is an opportunity to look into an acquisition of such resources and work them with beneficiation projects for value addition. This fact signifies the necessity for pelletisation/sinter plants for optimal use of iron ore. For optimal utilization of ore, the regulatory body should be vigilant.

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