The SC relaxed the ban on iron ore mining.

The Supreme Court increased the ceiling on iron ore mining in the Karnataka districts of Ballari, Chitradurga, and Tumakuru in August 2022.

Key Takeaway

The supreme court had earlier, in May 2022, relaxed the restrictions on sales outside the state and the export of already-excavated iron ore from mines in these three districts of Karnataka.
In 2012, the SC banned the export of iron ore pellets from Karnataka, intending to prevent environmental degradation. In addition, it fixed the maximum permissible annual production limit at 35 MMT for A and B category mines.

Stimulate domestic industry:
- India’s efforts to clean up illegal mining and export of iron ore left steel producers in the lurch after 2011. With the closure of mines, steel mills faced raw material shortages, forcing them to import, thereby opening the country to business for iron ore giants outside India.
- The new ruling would stimulate domestic industries such as steel.
Eased livelihood:
- The restrictions on production and sale have also affected lakhs of mining dependents in Karnataka, making their livelihood uncertain. The order may offer them some respite.

Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be extracted.
India has one of the world’s largest iron ore reserves. It occurs in various geological formations, but significant economic deposits are found in the volcano-sedimentary Banded Iron Formation (BIF) from the Precambrian age.
Magnetite is the most refined iron ore with a very high iron content, up to 72 per cent. In addition, it has excellent magnetic qualities, which are precious in the electrical industry.
In quantity, hematite ore is the most important industrial iron ore, but it has a slightly lower iron content than magnetite.
The highest producers are the Odisha Jharkhand belt, the Durg Bastar Chandrapur belt, the Bellary-Chitradurga-Chikmagalur-Tumkur belt, and the Maharashtra Goa belt.

Magnetite:
- It is the most important and best kind of iron ore. It contains about 72 per cent metallic iron in it. It is found in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Kerala.
Hematite:
- It is also an important source of iron. It contains about 60-70 per cent metallic iron in it. It is red and brown in colour and is found in Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Goa have this kind of ore in the western section.
Limonite:
- It contains about 30 to 40 per cent metallic iron in it. It is mostly yellow in colour. It is low-grade iron ore.
Siderite:
- It has more impurities. It contains about 48 percent metallic iron content in it. It is brown in colour. It contains a mixture of iron and carbon. It is low-grade iron ore. It is self-fluxing due to the presence of lime.

About 95% of the total reserves of iron ore are found in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

Chikmagalur District:
In Chikmagalur District, high-grade iron ore deposits are those of Kemmangundi in the Baba Budan Hills.
Kudremukh

Here it is mined on a large scale for export, which is exported from the New Mangalore port.
Kudremukh Hills in Chikmagalur District have extensive deposits but consist of low-grade magnetite.
Bellary-Hospet area and Sandur Ranges
Here, iron ore deposits are of high quality. Iron ore from this area serves the Vijayanagar steel plant at Hospet.

India is one of the largest exporters of iron ore in the world. India exports about 50 to 60 per cent of its total iron ore production to countries.
The leading destinations of iron ore exports from India are China, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, and Indonesia.
Major ports handling iron ore exports are Vishakhapatnam, Paradip, Marmagao, and Mangalore.

Pic Courtesy: SAIL

Content Source: The Hindu