Singareni to set up rare earth elements processing unit with NFTDC help

HYDERABAD

As part of its ongoing business diversification initiatives, the management of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has decided to set up a rare earth minerals processing unit in the Singareni area with the technical support from the Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre.

Construction of a pilot plant would be taken up soon to identify the rare earth elements in the overburden, fly ash, and other material generated in the coal mining and thermal power generation activity of the company, Chairman and Managing Director of SCCL N. Balaram said at a meeting with the NFTDC officials here on Thursday.

An agreement was signed between SCCL and NFTDC on setting up the rare earth minerals processing unit. Mr. Balaram on behalf of SCCL and Director and Principal Investigator of NFTDC K. Balasubramanian. Mr. Balaram stated that they had already decided to set up a plant on experimental basis at Kothagudem to produce rare earth elements and also explore their presence in the Singareni mines areas with the help of NFTDC.

Based on the percentage of rare earth elements present in the overburden, fly ash and other waste material and based on their commercial viability, they would decide on the scale of the plant. The research done so far had revealed the presence of some rare earth elements in the overburden and fly ash.

Director of Singareni K. Venkateshwarlu, senior executives T. Srinivas, Ramdas, Srinivasa Rao and Deputy Project Director of NFTDC Lokeshwar Rao participated in the event.