Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, inaugurating Turamdih mine project (November 9, 2002). Shri R. Gupta, Chairman cum-Managing Director, UCIL, looks on.

8-degree decline at Turamdih,Passenger carrier in operation

The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL) has started work on opening of its fourth uranium mine at Turamdih,Singhbhum East, Jharkhand. The deposit was discovered by AMD during 1969. The orebody lies within the meta-sediments of Singhbhum Thrust Belt and persists from surface upto a depth of 170m. as thin lenticular veins with nearly flat dip.

UCIL had undertaken the construction of this mine in 1989. The mine opening was established and sufficient infrastructure was developed for this purpose. The project was however shelved in 1992. The project has now been formally inaugurated by Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission on November 9, 2002.

Other operating mines of UCIL are within a distance of 25km towards east of this deposit.
The deposit has a total reserve of 7.6 million tonnes of ore explored upto a depth of 170m. An integrated mine planning software has been used for modeling the orebody using all relevant surface exploration data.

The entry into the mine has been established through an 8 degree decline. This will provide facilities for using trackless mining equipment like passenger carrier, drill jumbo, low-profile dump truck etc. A vertical shaft of 5m diameter will be sunk from surface upto a depth 250m with services for ore hoisting and movement of men & material. At a depth of 70m, the orebody will be accessed from the decline by a cross-cut. Drives will be developed following the contacts of orebody. Regular underground exploration with long-hole drill equipment will be carried out. After delineating the configuration of orebody, stoping (to mine in steplike excavation ) operations will begin. Adequate measures of roof control will be done with state-of-the-art support technique.

The mine will initially have a production capacity of 550 tonnes of ore per day. This ore will be brought to surface through the decline. Subsequently, the mine will be deepened with a production capacity of 750 tonnes of ore per day. Ore from deeper levels will be hoisted through the vertical shaft.

The mine will have two ventilation shafts at two extremes of the orebody and will be fitted with large exhaust fans permitting flow of adequate fresh air through the main shaft and decline. The waste rock generated from the mine will be disposed in a well designed dump yard within the mine premises. The underground mine water will be pumped to surface. This will undergo treatment in a water treatment plant to be constructed at mine site before its use for industrial purpose. Turamdih mine project will engage about 425 people most of whom will be local persons from nearby areas.

The ore production will commence from the first quarter of 2003-04. The ore produced from Turamdih mine will be transported to Jaduguda and will be processed in this plant for the first three years. Subsequently, it will be processed in the new plant to be constructed at Turamdih.