Jindal Steel & Power Ltd has announced plans to develop an iron-ore mine in South Africa that will cost around $2 billion. The proposed mine in Melmoth, in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, would dwarf recent investments in South Africa’s mining industry. It could produce 32 million tonnes of magnetite ore a year by 2031 after starting production in 2027.
The mine lies about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the port of Richards Bay and the ore, which has a grade of about 26%, could be exported for use by Jindal’s steel mills in Oman or India or sold, the company said.
It expects to get a mining license next year and a processing plant will take two-and-a-half years to construct. It will be the second-biggest operation of its kind in South Africa after Kumba Iron Ore Ltd.’s Sishen.
Jindal also mines anthracite in South Africa and metallurgical coal in Mozambique.
