Tata Steel Limited has commissioned an 8 million mt per year capacity ore crushing and washing plant at its captive Khonbond iron and manganese mine in the eastern state of Odisha, a company statement said on Thursday, November 25.
The investment on crushing and washing plant was in line with the need to focus on resource efficiency, productivity and technology in raw material handling and processing in tandem with growth in finished steel production, the company said.
The plant design included three-stage crushing and screening to reduce inherent alumina in ores, and two rotary drum scrubbers to improve the quality of ore. The slurry from the scrubbing screens is processed through hydro-cyclone and fed to a high rate settling thickener which facilitates recovery of process water from slime, the company said.
An in-plant rainwater harvesting reservoir has also been constructed to store and reuse rainwater run-off from the nearby hillslopes for dust suppression, plant operation and ground water recharging in and around Khondbond, the statement said.