The Hindu Business Line : NMDC in pact with Kanoria Chem, Central salt institute

THE National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd and the Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) have signed a memorandum of understanding.

The MoU entails setting up of a pilot plant to upscale the process for production of value-added Silica-based products from Kimberlite tailings, which are a by-product of mining for diamonds, according to an NMDC press release here.

The NMDC's diamond mines at Panna in Madhya Pradesh, produce around 84,000 Carats of diamond per year. About 100 tonnes of Kimberlite is being processed to get 10 Carats of diamonds. Which means, about 9 million tonnes of kimberlite gets accumulated as waste per year.

The Research & Development (R&D) Centre of NMDC has developed a handful of processes to utilise the Kimberlite tailings and add value. Technologies have been established to produce fluffy silica, sodium silicate and precipitated silicate.

Fluffy silica finds application in rubber products, pesticides, toothpaste, adhesives and oil industry. Sodium Silicate is used in the manufacture of soaps and detergents and also for cleaning purposes in brewing, dairying, food processing etc. Precipitated Silica on the other hand finds utility in the auto, rubber and insecticide industry.

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