Indian Minerals Yearbook 2013 (Part- III : MINERAL REVIEWS)

Transcription

1 Indian Minerals Yearbook 2013 (Part- III : MINERAL REVIEWS) 52 nd Edition KYANITE, SILLIMANITE AND ANDALUSITE (FINAL RELEASE) GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES INDIAN BUREAU OF MINES Indira Bhavan, Civil Lines, NAGPUR PHONE/FAX NO. (0712) PBX : (0712) , , cme@ibm.gov.in Website: July,

2 30 Kyanite, Sillimanite and Andalusite Kyanite, sillimanite and andalusite are three aluminium silicate minerals having the same chemical composition (.SiO 2 ) but differing in physical properties. These minerals are also known as 'super-refractories' in view of their special refractory properties. These minerals have special property of undergoing conversion into mullite (3.2SiO 2 ) and vitreous silica (cristobalite) on heating between 1,350 0 C and 1,500 0 C. The conversion takes place with about 20% increase in volume and hence it is necessary to calcine these minerals before use. Mullite (artificial) is the most important constituent of refractory products as it shows little or no softening below its melting point (1,810 0 C). After calcination of these minerals, the mullite obtained is characterised by good high temperature insulation of electricity, increase in firing range and temperature, high mechanical strength, low thermal expansion, good resistance to thermal shock of cooling and heating and good resistance to corrosion. It also does not spall. It is not a plastic mineral and is mixed with clay to make refractory products for electrical insulators and spark plugs, glass furnaces, tanks and pots, furnaces for high melting point alloys and pottery kiln linings, saggers and laboratorywares. Kyanite RESOURCES The total resources of kyanite as per UNFC system (as on ) in the country are placed at million tonnes. Out of these resources, only 1.57 million tonnes are the reserves and million tonnes are the remaining resources. Out of total resources, high and medium-grade resources together account for merely 1.5%, low grade 7.6%, mixed grade 0.8%, quartz kyanite gneiss and kyanite schist rock 88.6% and granular, others and not-known grades 1.6%. Statewise, share of Andhra Pradesh alone is more than 78% of total resources followed by Karnataka 13% and Jharkhand 6%. Remaining 3% resources are in Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Table - 1). Sillimanite The total resources of sillimanite as per UNFC system in the country as on are placed at million tonnes. Out of these resources, the reserves are only 4.08 million tonnes, while about million tonnes are the remaining resources. Out of total resources, more than 72.1% are granular high-grade, while quartz sillimanite rocks and sillimanite bearing rocks are about 22.7%. Resources of massive sillimanite of all grades are about 5.0%. The resources are located mainly in Tamil Nadu (27%), Odisha (20%), Uttar Pradesh (17%), Andhra Pradesh (14%), Kerala (11%) and Assam (7%). Remaining 4% resources are in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and West Bengal (Table-2). Andalusite The total resources of andalusite in the country as on as per UNFC system are placed at 18.5 million tonnes. There are no reserves. The resources are of inferred category located in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand (Table-3). EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT The exploration was carried out by Geological Survey of India at Mairang-Langtor areas, West Khasi Hills district of Megalaya to delineate potential sillimanite zones in Precambrian gneissic terrain. Details of exploration are furnished in Table

3 Table 1 : Reserves/Resources of Kyanite as on (By Grades/States) (In tonnes) 30-3 Reserves Remaining resources Total Proved Probable Total Feasibility Pre-feasibility Measured Indicated Inferred Reconnaissance Total resources Grade/State STD111 (A) STD211 STD331 STD332 STD333 STD334 (B) (A+B) STD121 STD122 STD221 STD222 All India : Total By Grades High grade Medium grade Low grade High & medium mixed Medium & low mixed High, medium & low mixed Granular Quartz kyanite rock Kyanite gneiss rock Kyanite schist Others Not-known By States Andhra Pradesh Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Maharashtra Rajasthan Tamil Nadu West Bengal Figures rounded off. KYANITE, SILLIMANITE AND ANDALUSITE

4 Table 2: Reserves/Resources of Sillimanite as on (By Grades/States) (In tonnes) Reserves Remaining resources Total Proved Probable Total Feasibility Pre-feasibility Measured Indicated Inferred Reconnaissance Total resources Grade/States STD111 (A) STD211 STD331 STD332 STD333 STD334 (B) (A+B) STD121 STD122 STD221 STD All India : Total By Grades Massive high grade Massive medium grade Massive low grade Massive high & medium Massive medium & low Massive high, medium & low Granular high Quartz sillimanite rock Sillimanite bearing rock Not-known By States Andhra Pradesh Assam Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Meghalaya Odisha Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal KYANITE, SILLIMANITE AND ANDALUSITE Figures rounded off.

5 Table 3 : Reserves/ Resources of Andalusite as on (In '000 tonnes) Total Remaining Total reserves resources resources (A+B) State (A) Inferred Total STD333 (B) All India : Total By States Jharkhand Uttar Pradesh Table 4 : Details of Exploration Activities for Kyanite, Sillimanite and Andalusite, Agency/ Location Mapping Drilling State/ Area/ Sampling Remarks District Block Scale Area No. of Meterage (No.) Reserves/Resources estimated (sq km) boreholes GSI Meghalaya West Khasi Mairang- 1:12, Reconnaissance stage Langtor 75 investigations (G-4) was carried out to delineate potential zones of sillimanite occurences in Precambrian gneissic complex. The banded ferruginous rock containing sillimanite was recorded in the area.. 7 km WNW 1:12, km WNW of Mairang banded of Mairang 1: ferruginous rock containing sillimanite and garnet was recorded which is 2500 m in length and width varies from 4 to 20 m, strike is E-W and dip due north. It is similar to to the Sonapahar sillimanite deposit. 30-5

6 PRODUCTION, STOCKS & PRICES Kyanite The production of kyanite at 1,066 tonnes in , decreased by 74% as compared to the previous year due to environment related issues. There were 4 reporting mines during the year under review as against 3 mines in the previous year. Ninety nine percent production was reported from public sector during as compared to 100% in the preceding year (Tables- 5 & 6). Dist. Rajasthan has reported only mine-head stocks. The average daily employment of labour was 48 in as against 56 in the preceding year. Prices of kyanite are furnished in the General Review on 'Prices'. In , about one percent of the total production of kyanite was of grade 40% and above, the rest 99% was of below 40% grade. Two public sector mines in states of Jharkhand (Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corp. Ltd) and Maharashtra (Maharashtra State Mining Corp. Ltd) accounted for about 95% and 4% of the total production respectively. Remaining one percent was the contribution by private sector mines (Table- 7). Mine-head stocks at the end of were 8,408 tonnes as against 8,174 tonnes at the beginning of the year (Table - 8). For the first time a kyanite mine in Surawas, Bhilwara Table 5 : Producers of Kyanite, Name & address of producer State Location of mine District Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corp. Ltd, Jharkhand Singhbhum (East) Khanij Nigam Bhawan, Nepal House Area, P.O. Doranda, Ranchi , Jharkhand. Maharashtra State Mining Corporation Ltd, Maharashtra Bhandara Plot No. 7, Ajni Chowk, Wardha Road, Nagpur , Maharashtra. 30-6

7 Table 6 : Production of Kyanite, to (By States) (Qty in tonnes; value in L'000) State Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value India Jharkhand Maharashtra Table 7 : Production of Kyanite, and (By Sectors/States/Districts/Grades) (Qty in tonnes; value in L'000) (P) Quantity Quantity State/District No. of Value No. of Value mines Above Below Total mines Above Below Total 40% 40% 40% 40% India Public sector Private sector 1* Jharkhand Singhbhum (East) Maharashtra Bhandara Table 8 : Mine-head Stocks of Kyanite, (P) (By States/Grades) (Qty in tonnes) State At the beginning of the year At the end of the year Above 40% Below 40% Total Above 40% Below 40% Total India Jharkhand Karnataka Maharashtra Rajasthan

8 Sillimanite The production of sillimanite at 43,736 tonnes in recorded a decrease of 26% as compared to the previous year due to decrease in raw sand quantity and low throughput to the plant. There were 5 reporting mines in the current year as against 4 in the previous year. Besides, two mines reported production of sillimanite as an associated mineral with garnet and kyanite during The average daily employment of labour during was 2,407 as against 1,683 in the previous year. Domestic prices of sillimanite are furnished in the General Review on 'Prices'. Four principal producers contributed the entire production. About 40% production of sillimanite was reported by the public sector, while the remaining 60% production was reported by the private sector. Andhra Pradesh, the main producing state contributed as much as 55% of the total production of sillimanite in followed by Odisha 28%, Kerala 11% and Maharashtra 6% (Tables - 9 to 11). Mine-head stocks at the end of the year were 16,958 tonnes as against 21,630 tonnes at the beginning of the year (Table - 12). Table 9 : Producers of Sillimanite, Name & address of producer State Location of mine District Indian Rare Earths Ltd, Odisha Ganjam Plot No. 1207, Veer Sawarkar Marg, Kerala Kollam Near Siddhi Vinayak temple, Prabhadevi, Mumbai , Maharashtra. #Trimex Sands Private Limited, Andhra Srikakulam 3rd Floor, Serene Tower, Pradesh Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh. Maharashtra State Mining Maharashtra Bhandara Corp. Ltd, Plot No.7, Ajni Chowk, Nagpur Maharashtra. *Pavri Kyanite Mines Maharashtra Bhandara Salpekar Building, Rani Jhansi Square, Sitabuldi, Nagpur Maharashtra. # Producing as an associated mineral with garnet. * Producing as an associated mineral with kyanite. 30-8

9 Table 10 : Production of Sillimanite, to (By States) (Qty in tonnes; value in L'000) State (P) Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value India Andhra Pradesh Kerala Maharashtra Odisha Tamil Nadu Table 11 : Production of Sillimanite, and (By Sectors/States/Districts) (Qty in tonnes; value in L'000) State/District (P) No. of mines Quantity Value No. of mines Quantity Value India 4(2) (2) Public sector Private sector (2) (2) Andhra Pradesh (1) (1) Srikakulam (1) (1) Kerala Kollam Maharashtra 2(1) (1) Bhandara 2(1) (1) Odisha Ganjam Figures in parentheses indicate the number of associated mines of kyanite and garnet. Table 12 : Mine-head Stocks of Sillimanite (P) (By States) (In tonnes) State At the beginning At the end of the year of the year India Andhra Pradesh Kerala Maharashtra Odisha Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Andalusite There was no production of andalusite in the country since MINING & MARKETING Kyanite Kyanite mines are worked by opencast manual as well as semi-mechanised methods. Generally, the mineral is marketed under three grades: above 60%, 50-60% and less than 50%. These three grades are used in the manufacture of refractories. Sillimanite Sillimanite mines are also worked by opencast method. Pohra mine of Maharashtra State Mining Corporation Ltd is semi-mechanised. Granular sillimanite is obtained from beach sands in Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu as a by-product along with ilmenite, rutile, zircon, garnet, etc. while recovering monazite. The Odisha Sands Complex of IREL in the 30-9

10 coastal region of Chatrapur in Ganjam district, Odisha, has the capacity to recover 10,000 tpy granular sillimanite at present. At Chatrapur, mining is carried out by suction dredging with gravel pump. IREL's Chavara plant in Kollam district, Kerala, presently has an installed capacity of 10,000 tpy granular sillimanite. At Chavara in Kerala, beach sand mining operations are carried out by IREL in two stages: (i) by means of bulldozers and wheel loaders, and subsequently loading by front-end loaders, wheel loaders and belt conveyors; and (ii) upgrading it to around 93% heavy minerals at Dredge and Wet Concentration Plant and concentrate upgrading unit. The Mineral Recovery Plant (MRP) essentially consists of a dredging system to mine the deposit and a pre-concentration system to separate the valuable minerals and dispose of the waste at the same place from where it was mined. The two systems are mounted on a combined floating platform which keeps moving with the progress of mining. For details regarding mining and processing, etc. of beach sand minerals, review on 'Ilmenite and Rutile' may be referred. USES Kyanite, sillimanite and andalusite are mainly used in refractories because of their ability to form mullite phase at high temperature. These are used to manufacture refractory products like dense bricks, insulating bricks, monolithic & castables. Sillimanite refractory bricks are extensively used in steel and glass industries and also in ceramics, cement kilns, heat treatment furnaces and petrochemical industries. SPECIFICATIONS BIS has prescribed IS: (reaffirmed in 2010) for kyanite used in refractory industry. There are two grades i.e. Grade-1 and Grade-2. Composition of kyanite under this specification is 58% min for Grade-1 and 54% min for Grade-2; Fe % max, K 2 O + Na 2 O 1% max; other constituents as agreed between the supplier and purchaser and PCE not less than 36 (for Grade-1) and 35 (for Grade-2). Size of the material is 50 to 150 mm or 10 to 50 mm. BIS has laid down IS: (reaffirmed in 2010) in respect of beach sand sillimanite for use in refractory industry, while IS: in respect of natural sillimanite blocks for glass melting tanks furnaces has been withdrawn. KYANITE, SILLIMANITE AND ANDALUSITE CONSUMPTION Kyanite The consumption of kyanite is estimated at 3,000 tonnes in which is slightly higher than previous year. Entire consumption of kyanite was accounted for by the refractory industry. Sillimanite The consumption of sillimanite estimated at 19,600 tonnes in increased by about 40% over the previous year. Refractory industry alone accounted for about 90% consumption (Table-13). Table 13 : Consumption of Kyanite and Sillimanite to ( By Industries) (In tonnes) Industry (R) (P) Kyanite All Industries Refractory 2900(19) 2900(20) 3000(20) Sillimanite All Industries Abrasive 100(1) 100(1) 100(1) Ceramic 400(4) 1600(4) 1600(4) Chemical 200(1) 200(1) 200(1) Foundry ++(1) ++(1) ++(1) Refractory 11800(23) 12100(26) 17700(27) Figures rounded off. Figures in parentheses denote the number of units in organised sector reporting* consumption. (* includes reported consumption and/or estimates made wherever required). WORLD REVIEW World reserve of kyanite and related minerals is large in USA. Andalusite is limited to only a few countries. The main producer and exporter of andalusite is South Africa. The USA and India are the main producers of kyanite. Kyanite Mining Corp. in USA is, by far, the largest producer of kyanite, with an estimated production of about 95,000 tpy. India is the leading producer of sillimanite. World production of kyanite and related minerals is given in Table-14.

11 Table 14 : World Production of Kyanite and Related Minerals (By Principal Countries) (In tonnes) Country Brazil Kyanite (e)(b) France Andalusite (e) India* Kyanite Sillimanite South Africa USA Andalusite e Kyanite (a) e Source: World Mineral Production, (a). Including related minerals. (b). Including beneficiated & directly shipped material. * India's production of kyanite during , and was 5,954 tonnes, 4,064 tonnes and 1,066 tonnes, respectively, while that of sillimanite was 48,784 tonnes, 59,206 tonnes and 43,736 tonnes, respectively. A steady increase in the world's steel industry and less availability of refractory grade bauxite increased the demand of andalusite.the main producers of andalusite China, Peru and South Africa expanded their operations and new andalusite mine was under development in Spain. Peru In northern Peru, Andalusita S.A. (a subsidiary of Refractories Peruanos S.A.) continued development and production from its andalusite resources within unconsolidated sand and gravles of the Tablazo Mancora flood plain and evaluation of other unproven mineral resources in northwestern Peru. Andalucita increased its production capacity for andalusite from 15,000 to 25,000 tonnes per year. Resources at Guadalupito iron and mineral sands project of Latin Resources Ltd have been increased after estimation 40 m thick Los Conchales zone resources of the project graded 6.1% heavy minerals, which contains 21 to 24% andalusite. South Africa Andalusite Resources (Pty.) Ltd mined andalusite at its Maroeloesfontein Mine in Thabazimbi, Limpopo Province. The mine life is revised and expected to be 60 years at 70,000 tonnes per year production. Damrec SA (a subsidiary of Imerys) produced more than 70% of the andalusite production in South Africa. Rhino Minerals (Pty.) Ltd operated three mines of Damrec's four South African Mines. Samrec (Pty.) Ltd operated the fourth mine in Mpumalanga region near Lydenburgh. Spain Picobello Andalucita SL has prceeded with mine development at Picobello andalusite project which was non operational in past, started operations in The mine is 15 km from El Ferrol port northwest of Galacia. The mine life is expected to be 15 years.the ore will be extracted to a depth of 20 to 40 m at a rate of 65,000 tonnes per year of which 50,000 tonnes per year would be refractory grade andalusite and remainder will be used for metallurgical applications. FOREIGN TRADE Exports There were no exports of kyanite during Exports of sillimanite decreased slightly to 11,151 tonnes in from 11,829 tonnes in the previous year. Sillimanite was exported mainly to China, Oman and Nepal. (Table - 15 ). Imports In , imports of kyanite were 623 tonnes as against 260 tonnes in the previous year. Imports of sillimanite were 74 tonnes in as compared to 14 tonnes in the previous year. Imports of andalusite increased drastically to 13,767 tonnes in from 6,121 tonnes in the previous year. USA was the main supplier of kyanite and Nepal that of sillimanite, while South Africa was the main supplier of andalusite in (Tables - 16 to 18)

12 Table 15 : Exports of Sillimanite (By Countries) Country Qty Value Qty Value (t) (L 000) (t) (L 000) All Countries China Japan Iran Singapore Nepal Thailand Greece Oman Kuwait Bangladesh Other countries Table 16 : Imports of Kyanite (By Countries) Country Qty Value Qty Value (t) (L 000) (t) (L 000) All Countries USA Nepal Japan Malaysia Czech republic Austria Belgium UK Other countries

13 Table 17 : Imports of Sillimanite (By Countries) Country Qty Value Qty Value (t) (L 000) (t) (L 000) All Countries Nepal Bulgaria Japan France USA Other countries Table 18 : Imports of Andalusite (By Countries) Country Qty Value Qty Value (t) (L 000) (t) (L 000) All Countries South Africa France Kuwait Chinese Taipei/Taiwan Peru China Japan Indonesia Germany Russia Other countries FUTURE OUTLOOK As per the Report of the Working Group for 12 th Plan ( ), the current demand of sillimanite is 32,000 tpy. Projected demand for next five years is 35,000 to 40,000 tpy at GDP growth rate of 8%, 9% and 10%. The production of sillimanite is likely to be increased in coming years to meet the demand. China will remain the leading market on global front

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