Jindal Steel’s iron ore mining project in South Africa faces challenges

India’s Jindal Steel & Power’s ambitious $2 billion iron ore project in South Africa has hit a snag as its environmental application was rejected. This is reported by BNN.

Jindal Steel has proposed a mine project in Melmoth (KwaZulu-Natal). If implemented, this iron ore mine would be the second largest in the country, with a capacity to produce 32 million tons of magnetite iron ore per year, which can be processed into 7 million tons of iron ore concentrate.

However, the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) refused to issue a construction permit due to gaps in the environmental impact assessment. In addition, local communities oppose the planned development.

Nevertheless, Jindal Steel has confirmed its intention to appeal the decision, emphasizing the importance of environmental impact assessment in mining projects. The company’s spokesperson Parshant Kumar Goyal said they plan to do so within three weeks.

The deposit is located about 70 km from the port of Richards Bay. As noted by the company, the extracted ore can be exported for use at the company’s steel plants in Oman or India or sold. Jindal expected to obtain a mining license in 2024.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the Australian mining company Fortescue, through its joint venture Ivindo Iron, has shipped the first iron ore from the Belinga project in Gabon.
This was the first shipment of ore from a port outside Australia in the company’s history. It was made less than a year after the miner signed a mining convention with the local government.

Also, China Baowu plans to invest about $1 billion in the development of the Simandou project. The company raised $1.4 billion through the issuance of three-year bonds, with 70% of the capital being invested in an iron ore project in Guinea.