Ashok Nandi & H. Mahadevan International Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Society (IBAAS) Can Indian alumina refineries afford to import bauxite?

Transcription

1 Ashok Nandi & H. Mahadevan International Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Society (IBAAS) Can Indian alumina refineries afford to import bauxite?

2 Introduction India ranks third in the world in bauxite resources (about 3 billion tons), based on which many new Green field Alumina Refineries have been planned and implemented / being implemented. Most of the resource is however located in the tribal belts & forest areas, for which the struggle seems to be a long one. Despite having good metallurgical bauxite resource, the new Refineries are required to source bauxite from other regions for the near and short terms, including importing bauxite to feed the refineries. New Indian refineries are based on simple low pressure digestion technology & hence can process only low silica Gibbsitic Bauxites. Therefore high silica low alumina ore continues to be exported from west coast of India to China, which can process such ores.

3 Bauxite-Alumina Map of India Eastern Ghats- Largest Metallurgical Grade Bauxite Belts of India having about 2.4 Billion tons of Lateritic Bauxite Resources.

4 Bauxite Requirement in India Two new Alumina Refineries of Eastern Ghats are not able to mine their nominated bauxite deposits due to forest and tribal issues These refineries are looking for medium to high grade imported bauxite for blending with locally available aluminous laterites & low grade bauxite. Transporting bauxite from western to the eastern part of India costs almost same as imported ore.

5 STATUS EASTERN GHATS REFINERIES Refineries Status Capacity tpy Mining Status Nalco Operating since ,100,000 Panchpatmali, Odisha Public Sector Running mine Utkal (HINDALCO) Private Sector Vedanta Private Sector Commissioned August, 2013 in 1,500,000 Baphlimali, Odisha Running mine Operating since ,000,000 Niyamgiri, Odisha. Yet to be mined; looking for alternate sources Aditya Aluminium Private Sector Anrak Private Sector Construction yet to start Commissioned partially in March, 2013 but full fledged operations to start 1,500,000 Kodingamali, Odisha Mine yet to be started 1,500,000 Jarella, Andhra Pradesh Yet to be mined; looking for alternate sources

6 Alumina Refinery-1 Present alumina capacity-1 mtpa requiring about 3mtpa bauxite. Recently re-started based on local mixed gibbsitic-boehmitic bauxite of Central India, Gujarat and imported CBG, Guinea bauxite. Imported high cost ore is blended with laterites / local low grade bauxite; therefore available alumina content >45% preferred in imported ore. Trying to develop alternate laterite bauxite deposits in the same state.

7 Alumina Refinery 2 Alumina production capacity-1.5 mtpa, might require about 4 mtpa bauxite. Commissioning started based on limited quantity of bauxite from Gujarat. Looking for medium to high grade gibbsitic bauxite, which can be blended with low grade materials of local origin. Development of nominated bauxite deposit may take 2 to 3 years. Company is scouting for laterite and bauxite.

8 Bauxite Dependent Alumina Production Cost Assumptions are made for a New Low Pressure Alumina Refinery of India

9 Bauxite Quality From Various Sources Parameters Eastern Ghats Gujarat West coast Central India Laterite Eastern Ghats Guinea Indonesia High Grade Al2O3% Total Available alumina% SiO2% Total SiO2% Reactive Moisture 9% 4% 4% 4% 5% 3% 14% Bond Work Index Kwh/t Overall Alumina recovery Bxt Dry t/t alumina Bxt(as is) t/t alumina

10 Bauxite Dependent Alumina Cost (US$) Parameters Eastern Ghats Gujarat West coast Central India Laterite Eastern Ghats CBG, Guinea Indonesia High Grade Handling cost Crushing &Grinding Cost Chemical Bound Soda/ton Alumina Cost of Caustic Soda Mud Load at LWS Handling Cost of Red Mud Storage Cost of Red Mud TOTAL OF BXT.DEPENDENT ALUMINA PRODUCTION COST

11 Restricting Factors for Bauxite Import The high available alumina and low reactive silica imported bauxite can only substitute local laterites, west coast and central Indian bauxite. Unlike China, India has resources of various grades of aluminous laterites. The largest cost component for Indian refinery is caustic soda, which is directly related to reactive silica content of Bauxite. Further caustic soda prices are much higher in India compared to China. Presently there is no arrangement of complex bauxite beneficiation facility in India.

12 Implication of Caustic Soda Cost

13 Affordable Bauxite Cost for Present Alumina Price Particulars Eastern Ghats West Coast Central India Alumin ous Laterite CBG, Guinea Indones ia Affordable Bauxite Cost US$ ton at CIF Vizag Affordable Bauxite Cost US$/ ton at FOB Loading Port 14 15* ** *Not affordable cost but actual cost delivered to the Refinery ** Not affordable cost but actual cost FOB mines

14 Alumina Production Cost for New Refinery

15 Conclusion New stand alone Indian Alumina Refineries planned on the basis of local bauxite, cannot afford to import high cost medium grade bauxite for long term. In the short term, only good quality gibbsitic bauxite will be viable for import in India. India has large laterite resources and any break through in beneficiation (reduction of Kaolinitic Silica) may drastically reduce the dependency. It might be possible to discuss alumina tolling arrangement for short to medium term with one of the Refinery.

16 Thanks Dr. Ashok Nandi, Convener International Symposium on Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium industry of the world, with special reference to China Web site: Cell No