KIOCL is reportedly in discussion with Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to set up a joint venture to explore rare earth minerals in Kerala.
The joint venture project may also engage bodies like Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and Kerala Mineral Development Corporation.
Last September, KIOCL (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore) had first announced to the Kerala government its intention of taking up a titanium mining and mineral separation project.
In October, as a follow-up, the CMD of KIOCL, the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Steel Ministry, and a Director of SAIL had met the Kerala Chief Minister.
An MoU was signed in September 2011 between KIOCL and KSIDC for iron-ore mining and the setting up of beneficiation and pelletisation plants in the Kasargod or Kozhikode districts of the state.
However, KSIDC informed KIOCL in February last year that no iron-ore bearing area was available for exploitation in Kozhikode.
KSIDC, in consultation with the State Directorate of Mines and Geology, was exploring possibilities to identify the iron-ore bearing area in Kasaragod, KIOCL was told at the time.
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