Hindustan Copper Limited sales volume in 2017-18 best in seven years, the PSU to venture into copper exploration: Officials
Kolkata, June 5 (IBNS): Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) has achieved a record sales volume of 36435 tonnes of copper in 2017-18 which was the best in seven years for the PSU.
Further, the copper miner’s turnover stood at Rs 1719 crores and profit before tax figure came to be Rs 122.69 crores in the last fiscal, stated Santosh Sharma, CMD of HCL in a press meet at Kolkata on Tuesday (June 5).
The audited financial result of HCL for the financial year 2017-18 was approved by its Board of Directors in a meeting held on May 30.
The Board has declared dividend to its shareholders at the rate of 30 % of Profit After Tax which stands at Rs 71.90 crores. The CMD further stated, “Capex during 2017-18 has increased by 47 percent to Rs 589 crore from Rs 400 crore which is because of implementation of a number of projects”. The company expects significant growth in the current fiscal for which capex of Rs 700 crores has been earmarked, he further stated.
This apart, the company is also venturing into copper exploration under Section 4(a) of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act. A joint-venture has been formed for this, where HCL holds 74 percent and Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC) 26 percent. HCL has allocated Rs 10 crores for exploration work in the first phase.
The first board meeting of the JV will be held on June 15 where action plan for copper exploration in Chhattisgarh will be expedited. Under this project, exploration works in identified potential areas will be carried out beyond 500 metres which is average depth of copper mines, the CMD further stated. “Exploration is important to assess potential and enhance production volume of the metal”, said Sharma.
Further, the PSU is attaching much importance to its “Waste to Wealth” project under which a plant with annual capacity of 3.3 million tonne has been constructed at Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh for extracting minerals like silver, gold etc. from copper ore tails, that is, a waste generated during copper ore beneficiation. Estimated earning from this project is Rs 60 crores per month.
At Malanjkhand, another project has been initiated to put waste rocks, which are granite or quartzite in nature, to commercial use. Presently, 100 million tonnes of such waste rocks which are internally assessed to have a value of more than Rs 1000 crores can be sold to Indian Railways for track ballast.
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