Trimex Srikurmam Mineral Sands Project in Andhra Pradesh starts commercial production and shipment of heavy minerals
Trimex unlocks India's industrial minerals potential, joins the global top-tier l Srikurmam Mineral Sands Project in Andhra Pradesh starts commercial production and shipment of heavy minerals. l World-class, fully-integrated, multi-mineral plant produces Ilmenite, Zircon, Garnet, Rutile, Sillimanite. l Company to strengthen its position in a sector with significant global supply-side deficit. l INR 250 crore initial investment to be followed by INR 4000 crore investments until FY18
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Trimex Srikurmam Mineral Sands Project
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The Trimex Group, India's top specialty value chain provider for industrial minerals, today announced the commencement of commercial production at its Srikurmam Mineral Sands Project in Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh, and the shipment of high-value industrial heavy minerals. The custom-built, fully-integrated, multi-mineral facility currently extracts, processes, and produces 200,000 TPA of Ilmenite, 6,000 TPA of Rutile, 6,000 TPA of Zircon, 60,000 TPA of Garnet, and 50,000 TPA of Sillimanite. The project represents a major milestone for the development of natural resources in Andhra Pradesh.
The project, which will play a pivotal role in helping meet the demand for high quality heavy minerals in the supply-deficit global market, will be formally inaugurated by Dr K Rosaiah, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, on 26 June 2010.
The products from this project are used in the manufacture of paints, ceramics, abrasives, insulation, cosmetics, paper, leather, glass products, artificial gems, aircraft parts, artificial human joints, and filtration media, among others.
The successful initial phase of the project required an investment of INR 250 crore for pilot studies; bulk samples; extensive hydrology; extensive environmental, social and public perception studies; complete detailed engineering; and the finalization of the mining license agreement with the government and private land owners. The company has acquired the mining lease for 7.2 square kilometers in the coastline of Srikakulam for 30 years from the date of the lease award, renewable for another 30 years.
The company has now firmed up plans for an INR 4,000 crore investment until fiscal 2017-18. The investment will go towards the expansion of extraction areas, increase of processing capacity, technology upgradation, and research and development of high value and premium products.
Trimex Group Chairman Prasad Koneru said that the project has already created significant employment opportunities in the region. "The Srikurmam project demonstrates that environmental sustainability, land conservation, and fast economic growth can coexist. We believe that the plant has established an important enviro-economic precedent for mineral extraction projects. I am confident this project will make a sustainable economic and social contribution to the region," Prasad Koneru said.
Trimex Group Executive Director Pradeep Koneru said that the Srikurmam project is an important milestone for the group and the minerals extraction industry.
"Our mission is to be among the world's largest producers of top quality industrial heavy minerals. We are confident that our fully-integrated multi-mineral separation and processing complex has few equals even among global peers in terms of ambition and quality," Pradeep Koneru said.
All this has been achieved with the transparent and proactive involvement of multiple stakeholders. All the necessary Central and State government clearances and approvals have been received. The project has in place an ongoing reclamation plan, re-contouring of the land to its original shape, including dunes, and management of groundwater resources. The minimum acreage of land is actively mined at any given moment with no use of harmful chemicals and, most importantly, land is merely rented from the landowners and goes back to them after the extraction process is complete," Pradeep Koneru added.
Notes to Editor
About Trimex Group
India's top specialty value chain provider for industrial minerals, the Trimex Group is a minerals business house with interests in extraction, sourcing, procurement,
Delivery, and R&D. Trimex delivers products such as barite, bentonite, iron ore, feldspar, bauxite, ilmenite, ball clay, and kaolin, among others, to the world's leading oil drilling, ceramic, glass, construction, energy, steel, and fertilizer companies.
Founded in 1985 by Prasad Koneru, a veteran of the Indian minerals industry, Trimex's global delivery network includes offices in India, Indonesia, Singapore,
and the United Arab Emirates. Production operations are conducted from multiple locations in the CIS, Africa, and West Asia.
