Steel mills to use iron ore found in Balochistan: Tuwairqi contacts mining firm
By Sabihuddin Ghausi
KARACHI, May 16: Two steel mills — the state-owned Pakistan Steel of over one million tons capacity and the upcoming private sector project - Tuwairqi Steel Mills - with same production capacity are exploring the possibility of using local iron ore available in Balochistan as input.
Reports suggest that a third upcoming private sector steel mill project, with a half a million tons production capacity to be built in close vicinity of the two big steel mills, is also exploring to use local iron ore. “This is bound to cut down import bill and help in the development of iron ore mining in the area,” a senior official of the Pakistan Steel said.
The sponsors of all these steel mills are obviously encouraged by the reports coming from the mining area in Balochistan about relatively good quality of iron ore and the Balochistan Mining Company is said to have signed early this month an agreement with a German consultant to carry out engineering studies for setting up a beneficiary plant.
Chairman of Pakistan Steel Major General (retd) Javed said that engineers were in close contact with the officials of the mining company to evaluate industrial worthiness of iron ore and had carried out tests, which appear to be encouraging.
But Project Director of Tuwairqi Steel Mr Zaighan Adil Rizvi was more candid on the issue of exploring the use of Balochistan iron as input on completion. As he puts it the project is based on midrex technology and will require 1.92 million tons of iron ore with minimum of 66 per cent ferrous content annually to produce 1.28 million tons steel products based on Directly Reduced Iron (DRI).
Engineers and research scientists of the steel mills project disclosed that a resource of 50 million tons of magnetite iron has been established at two specified locations at Chigendik and Pachinkoh, North West of Nokundi in Chaghi district of Balochistan.
The lease holder is Balochistan Mining Enterprises, which is a joint venture of Balochistan and the federal government and the PPL. The Tuwairqi Steel is negotiating with the Balochistan Mining.
The company has shown willingness to supply 350,000 tons of lump concentrate and 50,000 tons of sinter concentrates every year for next 9 to 10 years. Subsequently, 400,000 tons of concentrate can be supplied.
“We are very keen to utilise maximum quantity of the indigenous iron ore for our project in Karachi,” Zaigham Adil Rizvi said while making it clear no compromise will be made on production quality.
He said the implementation of the project was well on track and he was confident of putting into operation the first private sector project of steel mill by the second half of next year.
The implementation of the project, he said, is exposing young Pakistani civil, electrical and mechanical engineers to new experiences and is creating a new talent pool that will be an asset for the country in the future.
His engineers — a Japanese and a European — explained that the DRI (Direct Iron Reduction) method on which the plant production is based is now producing about 60 million tons of steel in the world.
Shortage and higher prices of scrap in the world is said to be the main driving force to popularise the DRI technology in which gas and electricity are the main inputs. The production cost depends on the price of gas and electricity.
“Now that steel structures are fast replacing masonry works, steel industry has a big role to play in future,” a steel engineer said while pointing out that many international airport buildings and other structures are all steel built.
