India's NMDC to Award Contract for Slurry Pipeline

NMDC Limited, an Indian mining company, has announced it will select a firm this October to build, operate and maintain a 430-kilometer slurry pipeline.

The US$639 million project will connect mines in Bailadila, Chattisgarh, to the southern port city of Vishakapatnam. The pipeline will be able to transport 12 million tons of iron ore slurry per year. Construction has been allocated two years for completion, Rana Som, chairman and managing director of the company told Industrial Information Resources.

The old pipeline was destroyed by protestors and the new pipeline will be built along the highway for better protection though the route is nearly twice as long, Som said.

The Bailadila-Vishakhapatnam pipeline is a critical part of NMDC's plan to expand its operations in Bailadila from 22 million tons to 40 million tons within five years. A new mine, Bailadila 11D, will go into production in March 2011, and the company plans to develop two new mines within five years as well, according to IRR.