India: Rungta Mines places highest bid for Jumka Pathiriposhi iron ore block

Odisha'a leading miner - Rungta Mines has placed the highest bid for the Jumka Pathiriposhi iron ore block in the ongoing mines auctions in Odisha at a premium of 110.15%, SteelMint learnt from sources. It is notable that the Rungta's sponge-making capacity has increased from 1.12 mntpa a couple of years back to the current 1.48 mntpa. Rungta Group has sponge plants in Jharkhand (0.66 mntpa) and Odisha (0.81 mntpa).

The companies which had cleared the technical round for Jumka Pathiriposhi Pahar iron ore block were Rungta Mines, MSPL Baldota, ArcelorMittal/Nippon Steel India, Essel Mining, JSPL, Shyam Metaliks and Vedanta.

It may be recalled, the Odisha state government has started the second round of mineral block auctions with the announcement of technically qualified bidders.

Sources informed SteelMint that there were seven technically qualified bidders for the Jumka Pathiriposhi Pahar iron ore block with the highest bid being around 86% from Rungta Mines. 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 158.509 hectare (ha) with explorations done up to the G2 level. The mine has total geological resources of 140.28 mn t with average grade of 56.14%

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.

Odisha iron ore mine block auction summary - Phase II