Astra Mining Ltd Contracted To Acquire First Iron Ore Mine In Orissa, India

Astra Mining Ltd Contracted To Acquire First Iron Ore Mine In Orissa, India

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ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - 9 February 2011: Astra Mining Ltd is excited to announce they have contracted the acquisition of an operating iron ore mine in Northern Orissa (Orissa 1) on a cash plus scrip basis. This is subject to final legal and compliance processes. This coincided with the opening of Astra Minings first Indian office.

First of 10 possible Iron Ore Mine Acquisitions for Astra Mining

This is the first of potentially ten acquisitions in the Northern Orissa area with a total estimated resource of 500 million tons of iron ore. Orissa 1, has reserves of 20 million tonnes of major high grade FE (+63%) iron ore and is expected to increase on further drilling. This should be able to be expanded to 200,000 tonnes per month, subject to funding. The infrastructure surrounding Northern Orissa is well developed, including a port, rail and road transportation. This ensures the iron ore mined can easily be transported to consumers at minimal cost.

The Indian office, opened in Bhubaneswar by ceremony according to traditional custom, serves as a foundation for further growth for Astra Mining in the region. Ajay Kapoor has been engaged as Director of the Indian offices and runs the Orissa iron ore business. Due to its proximity to major iron ore reserves and consumers in the world market it is expected to serve as a base for negotiations and completing transactions. "Because of the abundant mineral resource base Orissa offers an excellent investment opportunity for us as we target steel manufacturers both in India and China growth markets." said Jaydeep Biswas, Chief Executive Officer of Astra Mining Limited.

Orissa Has Favourable Geology for a Long Term Mining Hub

Orissa is known for its rich mineral deposits holding 16.92% of the total mineral reserves of the country. Indias richest and biggest deposits are mostly confined to Banded Iron Formations (BIF) of Precambrian age. The Iron Ore Group covers the Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jajpur districts of Orissa and exhibit the major and high grade deposits of Eastern India.

The Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jajpur districts from Orissa bear the major high grade (+60% Fe) hematitic deposits from these belts and contribute to the 60% of total Indian iron ore. As per the information available from Director of Geology and Director of Mines, Orissa, the state has 5306 MT of iron ore deposits. Keonjhar being the leading district with a resource base of around 3574 Mt.

The iron ore mines in Orissa compare favourably with Australian iron ore mines in terms of cost of operation. Presence of generally high grade iron ore reduces overall costs of operation for Orissa iron ore miners as beneficiation and blending does not have to be carried out.


Most of the ore that is mined is direct shipping ore, thus reducing operating costs. The infrastructure for export of iron ore from the mines in terms of road network, railway infrastructure is provided by the state itself and hence transport infrastructure does not have to be built from scratch as is required in Western Australia. The port of Paradip is open to all for export of iron ore and thus infrastructure costs for development of iron ore export are very low when compared to Western Australia.

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