Hindalco Industries, part of the Aditya Birla Group, and JSW Steel, led by Sajjan Jindal, are in competition for two copper mines in Jharkhand, slated to go up for auction this October, according to sources. Together, the mines have an annual production potential of 3 million tonnes.
Both mines have a total production capacity of three million tonnes annually. Hindalco Industries, a company under the Aditya Birla Group, and JSW Steel, led by Sajjan Jindal, are competing for two copper mines in Jharkhand, which are set to be auctioned this month, according to sources.
Hindalco and JSW Steel will be bidding for two copper mines owned by Hindustan Copper Ltd in Jharkhand. The auction is expected to take place in October. One of the mines is untapped, while the other has been non-operational for 20 years.
Hindustan Copper had previously invited applications for appointing a mine developer-cum-operator (MDO) to reopen and expand the Rakha Copper Mine and develop the underground mine at Chapri. The lease for the Rakha mine expired in 2021, and an extension is under process with the Jharkhand government, along with the application for stage one forest clearance, which has been reviewed by the Project Screening Committee.
Hindustan Copper has stated that site inspections by the State Forest Department have been completed, and the company is implementing expansion projects to increase its mining capacity to 12.2 million tonnes per year. This move aims to boost domestic copper production and reduce the country’s reliance on imports. In FY24, Hindustan Copper produced 3.78 million tonnes of ore, a 13% increase from the 3.35 million tonnes in FY23.
At the Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP), the ongoing underground mine expansion below the existing open cast mine is set to double capacity from 2.5 MTPA to 5 MTPA. With the open cast mine now exhausted, the underground operation is continuing beneath the surface, leaving some barrier pillars intact. Hindustan Copper remains the only vertically integrated producer of refined copper in India, holding all copper ore mining leases under the control of the Ministry of Mines.
