Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, KIOCL

Kudremukh  Iron Ore Company Limited, a wholly owned Government of India Enterprise, was established in 1976 to develop the mine and plant facilities to produce 7.5 million tonnes of concentrate per year.  Legend and wild beauty, Kudremukh, in the State of Karnataka, is known to have one of the largest deposits of iron ore in the world.The idea of beneficiating the ore deposits was first proposed when several Japanese companies came together with the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), a Government of India undertaking, evincing an interest in such a project. Pilot studies suggested that the surface ore with 38% iron could be enriched to a concentrate of 67% iron with available new technologies.  The mining lease was given to KIOCL in Kudremukh for an initial period of 25 years and was supposed to be closed by Dec 2001. However It had to face the ire of environmentalists as Kudremukh area is a biodiversity hotspot. There is also a Kudremukh national park nearby. The mining lease was temporarily extended and thereafter ended in 2005. However, Company was completely stopped in Dec 2005. Now, the plant runs on ores supplied by National Mining Development Corporation (NMDC) at Mangalalore City only. Lakya Dam is the reservoir of the mining silt only which is the largest dumping ground of silt on any top of the mountain.The  company  built  a  100  meter  high  earth - fill  dam  across  the  Lakhya tributary to prevent pollution of the river Bhadra . As part of its   continuing anti-pollution program, the company has undertaken the work of increasing the height of the Lakhya dam to contain tailings from the plant.Two  rock-filled  mini  dams  across the valleys of the crushers arrest mine  run-off  during  the monsoons. Only the clear surface water joins the  Bhadra. The  silt  collected  in  these dams is de silted during the winter  and  summer  months  to  keep them ready for storage for the next monsoon. The silt is rich with washed iron ore, yielding annually about  one  and  half  million  tonnes of quality ore. So, apart from serving the purpose of  controlling  pollution, the mini dams provide a rich source of ore recovery. Turfing  has  been  done  on  a  large  scale  in  all critical earth - filled  areas  to  prevent  earth  slides.  As part of its  afforestation  program, the company has already planted nearly 7.5 Million trees to prevent mine run-off and soil wash-off.