Displaying items by tag: Limestone
Malabar Cements to resume operations this month
07 October 2016India: Malabar Cements will restart operations later in October 2016, says EP Jayarajan, the Industry Minister of Kerala. The publicly owned cement producer stopped production due to lack of supply of raw materials in late September 2016, according to the Hindu newspaper. Laterite and limestone required for production will be sourced from Kasaragod and Rajasthan respectively.
Emami Cement wins limestone-mining lease in Rajasthan
29 September 2016India: Emami Cement has won a limestone-mining lease in Rajasthan for a cost of US$4.5/t. The lease is for the Nagapur 3B1b Deh block that has an estimated reserve of 168Mt. It is the first non-coal mining lease to be sold via auction in the state, according to the Financial Express. Emami Cement will also have to pay royalties and make contributions to the district mineral foundation and national mineral exploration trust once it starts operation. Mining is expected to start in about 18 months subject to land acquisition, project planning and environmental clearance.
Hongshi-Shivam Cement building road to project site in Nepal
22 September 2016Nepal: Hongshi-Shivam Cement is building a 36km road between Nawalparasi and Palpa to connect limestone reserves to a plant it is building. The China-Nepal joint venture is building a 6000t/day cement plant in Sardi, Nawalparasil that will be completed in 2017, according to the Kathmandu Post. The company plans to double the plant’s production capacity to 12,000t/day in the next four years. Limestone reserves at Palpa are expected to last 300 years.
Hongshi Cement has invested US$360m in the project which is the largest Chinese investment in the country’s cement industry. Investment Board Nepal (IBN) approved Hongshi's proposal in July 2015.
India: JK Lakshmi Cement has received environment clearance to expand its limestone mine output in Sirohi, Rajasthan to 13Mt/yr from 8Mt/yr. The expansion will cost US$17.9m and the mined material will supply the cement producer’s Sirohi plant, according to the Press Trust of India.
Crushed limestone will be transported to the plant via a covered conveyor and no local transport infrastructure will be required for the proposed project. Water will be sourced from the West Banas dam. The company has a limestone mine lease area of 390.62 hectare. It is an opencast mine and the lease is valid up to 2030.
The mine expansion will subject to conditions, including acquiring any applicable clearances from the National Board for Wildlife and consent from the State Pollution Control Board. The company has also been asked to conduct hydro-geological study and to obtain the recommendations of Central Ground Water Authority.
Shree Cement's highest bidder for limestone deposits in Chhattisgarh
19 February 2016India: Shree Cement has offered the highest bid in an auction for limestone deposits at Karhi Chandi, Baloda Bazar in Chhattisgarh. The site has estimated reserves of 155Mt of limestone in an 252 hectare area. Official confirmation from the state government that confirms Shree Cement as the winner of the auction is still awaited.
Local press reports that Shree Cement offered US$4/t for the deposit. The sale was the first non-coal mining lease auction by the state government. Shree Cement has plans to expand its cement plant at Raipur.
US: Lehigh Cement Company, part of Heidelbergcement Group, has ordered a semi-mobile limestone crushing plant from Hazemag for its Union Bridge cement plant.
The plant will process up to 2500t/hour of limestone with a feed size of up to 2000mm. The material is discharged by means of a Hazemag apron feeder HAF 25160 from a 400t feed hopper. The fines in the feed material are screened at 100mm on a Hazemag roller screen HRS 2638.
The HAZEMAG primary impact crusher HPI 2230 crushes the material down to D99 < 125mm. The impact crusher is fitted with hydraulically adjustable impact aprons and grinding path that both retract in a controlled manner under excessive load. The system of the retractable grinding path is patented. The impact crusher HPI 2230 is also fitted with the automatic gap width control HAZtronic.
UltraTech deal with Jaypee delayed by mine transfer legislation
01 September 2015India: UltraTech Cement is seeking clarification from the Indian government over the transfer of limestone reserves as part of its deal to buy two integrated cement plants in Madhya Pradesh from Jaypee Group, according to HT Media. A clause in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 2015 barring the transfer of mines that were not allotted through auctions is delaying mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the mining sector.
According to a clause in the new Act, transfer of the mining licence is allowed only for mines that have been auctioned. Most of the operational limestone mines in India were allotted and not auctioned. The Act allows for these reserves to be auctioned in the future. However, legal experts are divided on whether this clause will apply retrospectively.
UltraTech agreed to buy Jaiprakash Associates' cement plant with a clinker capacity of 2.1Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of 2.6Mt/yr at Bela in Madhya Pradesh in December 2014. It then agreed to buy a second plant at Sidhi with a clinker capacity of 3.1Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of 2.3Mt/yr. The deal included access to the limestone reserves in Madhya Pradesh.
The new legislation is also expected to affect Lafarge's sale of its east Indian assets to Birla Corp.
HeidelbergCement to develop Volga limestone deposit
04 August 2015Russia: HeidelbergCement has won the right to develop a 37.5km2 plot at the Novo-Shikhanskaya area in Volga. According to the Geolnerud Central Research Institute, the limestone resources for the cement industry in the area amount to 168Mt. The contract costs Euro14,284 with an initial payment of Euro11,644. The license in valid for 25 years.
Uzbekistan: The State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan said that in January – June 2015 the construction materials industry produced 2.11Mt of goods, 11.3% more than in the same period of 2014. The share of industry in total industrial production was 5.2%, according to UzReport. Compared with the first half of 2014, large enterprises in Uzbekistan have increased their production of Portland cement by 113%, gypsum by 108%, lime by 135%, non-refractory ceramic building bricks by 116% and fibre cement by 118%.
Governer claims limestone storage endangers health
14 July 2015Mozambiqiue: According to Mozambique News Agency, the governor of Sofala, Helena Taipo, has ordered the limestone storage facility in Muanza be moved on environmental and health grounds.
Taipo took this measure after a message presented by local residents at a rally she addressed in Muanza, which complained at the way the limestone is currently stored. The residents said that the health problems allegedly caused by limestone dust are not new. Local people have long complained against the practice of Cimpor's Cimentos de Mocambique of storing large quantities of limestone next to Mwanza station, where it awaits transport by train to the cement plant in the nearby town of Dondo.
Taipo said that she did not really need to hear the complaint, since she could see the problem with her own eyes. "I have seen the houses covered with white dust," said Taipo. "Even here at the rally I've seen the dust, which shows that the situation is serious. We have to think seriously about the preservation of the environment. Cimpor must change the place where it keeps the limestone to somewhere else, because currently it is a danger to public health."
Participants at the rally called for the road from Dondo to Cheringoma, which passes through Muanza, to be paved. They also wanted the electricity grid to be further expanded. Taipo guaranteed that paving the road is one of the actions envisaged in the government's five year programme for 2015 - 2019.