Business Bureau ;

 

Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), a Miniratna-I CPSE under the Ministry of Mines, having its corporate office at Nagpur has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (OMECL) at Bhubaneswar recently for augmenting the exploration of Odisha’s rich mineral resources.

 

The MoU was signed on behalf of MECL by Dr Ranjit Rath, CMD, MECL, and Vineel Krishna, Managing Director OMECL, in presence of Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, Prafulla Mallick, Minister for Steel, Mines and Works, Government of Odisha, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha and Surendra Kumar, Secretary of Steel and Mines, Odisha and Chairman, OMC. Odisha State is endowed with large resources of bauxite, chinaclay, chromite, coal, dolomite, fireclay, graphite, gemstones, iron ore, limestone, manganese ore, mineral sand, nickel ore, pyrophylite and quartz.

 

Odisha is the leading producer of chromite, graphite, bauxite, manganese ore, iron ore, sillimanite, quartzite, pyroxenite and dolomite. The State hosts the country’s sole resources of ruby and platinum group of metals. It accounts for the country’s 95 per cent chromite, 92 per cent nickel ore, 69 per cent cobalt ore, 55 per cent bauxite, 51 per cent titaniferous magnetite, 40 per cent limestone, 36 per cent pyrophyllite, 33 per cent iron ore (hematite), 26 per cent sillimanite, 25 per cent each fireclay and garnet, 24 per cent each coal and zircon and 20 per cent vanadium ore resources. Dr Ranjit Rath, CMD, MECL said that by joining hand with OMECL the exploration activities of the State will be augmented and additional mineral resources in the State will be established, which will lead to identification of more blocks for auctioning in the Greenfield as well as Brownfield area.