Address: Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL)
Sherbano, 6th Floor, Maharshi Karve Road
Maharashtra, Mumbai-400 020
Telephone: 91-22-2030914
Fax: 91-22-2004430
E-mail: irecmd@bom3.vsnl.net.in
Chairman and Managing Director: Dr. T.K. Mukherjee
Subordinate to: Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
Primary Function: Mining and processing of mineral sands for the production of industrial minerals

Description and Activities:
In the mid-1970s, Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) decided to expand its beach mining operations and exploit the 250 million tons of raw sand deposits with 20-25 percent heavy minerals on the Orissa seacoast. In 1986, the Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM) in Chhatrapur began operation. Original estimates of production at OSCOM were 220,000 tons of ilmenite, garnet, and other associated minerals. Since the ilmenite found in Orissa was of a lower grade than deposits found on the west coast of India, a value addition plant was integrated into OSCOM for the conversion of ilmenite into 92 percent grade synthetic rutile. Operations at the OSCOM complex originally consisted of four separate components, a dredge and wet concentrator, a mineral separation plant, a synthetic rutile plant and an acid regeneration plant. The third and fourth components, the synthetic rutile plant and an acid regeneration plant, belong to the value addition plant. Ilimenite processed by the mineral separation plant is processed in the value addition plant to produce synthetic rutile. Due to frequent equipment failure, OSCOM's output proved to be less than 10 percent of its estimated capacity.

In 1997, the commercial operation of the synthetic rutile plant was stopped in order to reduce losses. OSCOM facilities were refocused away from synthetic rutile production to the production of ilmenite and garnet. By the year 2000, production of ilmenite reached 175,000 tons. The following year, OSCOM was able to earn a profit for the first time in the plant's history with a total ilimenite production of 420,000 tons. Meanwhile, the synthetic rutile plant has been modified in hopes of eventually restarting commercial operations.

Also located at the OSCOM site are a research and development laboratory and a thorium plant. The research and development laboratory conducts research on both mineral separation and value addition to remaining non-radioactive minerals through chemical processing. The thorium plant uses solvent extraction to purify crude thorium nitrate solution in order to recover a pure thorium bearing solution which is evaporated leaving thorium nitrate crystals. The crude thorium nitrate solution is supplied by Rare Earths Division (RED) of Alwaye and yields mantle grade thorium nitrate.

Key Sources: DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 2000-2001," Executive Summary available at <http://www.dae.gov.in/ar2001/execsum.htm>; DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 2001-2002," Executive Summary available at <http://www.dae.gov.in/>;
"Nuclear Fuel Cycle," Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), 31 January 2002, <www.dae.gov.in/publ/persp/nfc/nfc3.htm>; T.K. Mukherjee, "Indian Rare Earths – Its Genesis and Growth," Nuclear India, Vol. 34, No. 7-8, January-February 2001; T.K. Mukherjee, "IREL Turn-around of Orissa Sand Complex," Shilpa Bichitra Online Edition, <http://www.shilpabichitra.com/Shilpa2000/indart42.htm>.

	Updated September 2003