Jindal Steel plans $2bln iron ore mine in South Africa – report

Jindal Steel plans $2bln iron ore mine in South Africa – report

A plan by Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. to develop an iron-ore mine that will cost around $2 billion in South Africa is facing opposition from communities who say the operation would require thousands of homes and graves to be relocated, Bloomberg said in a report.

The proposed mine in Melmoth, in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, would dwarf recent investments in South Africa’s mining industry.

It could produce 32 million tonnes of magnetite ore a year by 2031 after starting production in 2027, the company said in an emailed response to questions by Bloomberg.

Jindal is controlled by Asia’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, and family.

“Our community of Makhasaneni has been fighting Indian giant mining company, Jindal Mine, who for years have been intruding with their plans to dig up iron ore in the lush hills that we have called home for generations,” community members said in a petition signed by more than 6,700 people, Bloomberg reported.

Jindal says a minority of residents oppose the project.

The Entembeni Crisis Forum, the group that organized the petition, said an assessment of the area that Jindal wants to mine shows it could lead to more than 3,000 households and 3,000 graves being moved.

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