GJR Group acquires 50% rights in Iron Ore Company

Bangalore, Jul 21 (UNI) GJR Group, country's largest player in iron ore mining, in its effort to go global, today announced acquisition of 50 per cent economic rights of Nalo Baru Iron Ore Tenement, Sumatra owned by PT Earthstone Resources Group, Indonesia.

A strategic alliance to this effect was signed between GJR Group of Companies Chairman G Janardhan Reddy, who is also Karnataka Minister for Tourism and Infrastructure Development and PT Earthstone Resources Managing Director Mahran Nasution.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Reddy said his company would invest about USD 30 million in mine development. This was the first initiative towards his group of companies going global and there were many more acquisitions under consideration by the company, he added.

The Chairman said initially 2.5 million metric tonnes to be extracted from Nalo Baru, which has a total mining area of 438 hectares with an estimated reserve of 100 million metric tonnes of high grade 64+Fe iron ore, would be utilised by Bramhani Industries Limited (BIL), which is nearing completion.

The BIL was in the process of setting up a ten MTPA Integrated Steel Plant(ISP). The plant was being built at Jammalamadugu in Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh, he added.

He said the civil work for the first phase of 2.5 MTPA had already been commenced and the complete ten MATPA ramp up in installed capacity was expected to be accomplished in five to six years.

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