India: Dholtapahar iron ore block fetches highest bid of 82% in technical round

The companies which have placed initial bids in cleared the technical round for Dholtapahar iron ore block are Kashvi, Om Sairam Steel, TP Sao & sons, Rungta Mines, Ramgad Mining & Minerals, Bajrang Power, Lal Trader, Sri Jagannath Steel, and Kai steel.

Sources informed SteelMint that there were nine technically qualified bidders for the Dholtapahar iron ore block with the highest bid being around 82% by Kashvi. The highest initial price offer amongst the "technically qualified bidders" shall be the floor price for the second round of the e-auction.

The virgin mine has an area of 60.5 hectares (ha) with explorations done up to the G2 level. The mine has total geological resources of 16.74 million tonnes (mn t) Fe content of 55% cut off and 7.18 mn t with 45-55%Fe cut off .

The government has put 10 iron ore blocks under the hammer in this round. Odisha's Department of Steel and Mines expects to complete the auction process by Sept'21-end and after the current tranche of 11 mineral blocks, it may auction another five blocks as composite leases. The Odisha government is expected to announce the technically qualified bidders for other mines gradually in the coming days.