2. Our Operational Performance
  3. Mines

Mines

Growth Strategy
on Track

As planned, we completed all major expansion projects in FY 2019-20 to achieve mined metal capacity of 1.2 mn MT per annum. This will enable us to ramp up production across our mines and capture a larger pie of the domestic demand. Simultaneously, we are on track to optimise the cost of production due to a combination of factors such as higher volumes, automation and initiatives to enhance overall productivity.

PERFORMANCE IN FY 2019-20

During FY 2019-20, ore production was 14.5 mn MT, an increase of 5% from a year ago, despite the lockdown imposed due to the pandemic in the third week of March 2020.

This performance was driven by strong productivity of the Rampura Agucha and Zawar mines. Mined metal production was 917 kt in FY 2019-20, 2% lower from a year ago, primarily on account of low ore grades at Sindesar Khurd and Kayad mines.

Mines Zinc Lead
  Ore Mined
('000 tonnes)		 Feed Grade
(%)		 Mined Metal
('000 tonnes)		 Feed Grade
(%)		 Mined Metal
('000 tonnes)
  2019-20 2018-19 2019-20 2018-19 2019-20 2018-19 2019-20 2018-19 2019-20 2018-19
Rampura Agucha 3,940 3,330 11.13 10.75 381 358 1.62 1.61 33 35
Sindesar Khurd 5,078 5,311 3.37 3.75 160 174 2.05 2.40 95 109
Rajpura Dariba 1,038 1,080 4.85 5.04 37 44 1.18 1.20 7 9
Zawar 3,271 2,865 2.52 2.36 72 55 1.94 1.98 54 45
Kayad 1,139 1,200 6.86 8.16 70 98 0.92 1.10 7 10
Total 14,465 13,785 5.64 5.85 720 728 1.77 1.90 197 207

A SNAPSHOT OF OUR PERFORMANCE AND OUTLOOK

 

Brief Overview

Operational Performance

Infrastructure Upgradation and Mine Improvement Initiatives

Key Safety and Sustainability Initiatives

Project Update

Rampura Agucha Mine

  • One of the largest zinc-lead mine in the world
  • Positioned in the first quartile of the global zinc cost curve
  • Ore production increased by 18% to 3.9 mn MT powered by the recently commissioned shaft
  • Mined metal production up by 5.3% to 414 kt driven by improvement in mill efficiency
  • Paste-filling increased by 41% y-o-y
  • Established a surface control room to monitor all underground activities to enhance productivity and improve safety
  • Digitalisation of the mine under project ‘Drishti’, enabling real-time tracking of people, equipment, material and deeper integration with auxiliary mining services
  • Introduced tele-remote-controlled production drilling and loaders
  • Bulk oil-handling systems installed to prevent secondary spillage in underground operations
  • Commissioned the main hoisting shaft of 7.5 metre diameter and depth of 950 metre, along with an associated crusher and conveyor system; ore hauling commenced in Q4 FY 2019-20

Zawar Mine

  • Zawar mines is a group of four heritage mines, namely Mochia, Balaria, Zawar Mala and Baroi
  • Ore production ramped up by 14% to 3.3 mn MT supported by production from the large declines at Mochia and Baroi
  • Mined metal production increased by 26% to 125 kt on account of the all-time high ore production, better grades and improvement in mill recovery
  • Set up a control room at Mochia and Baroi mines for improved underground communication between machine operators and workforce
  • Commissioned a dry tailings stacking plant
  • Cold-commissioned backfilling plants, including a hydro-fill plant at Mochia mine and a paste-fill plant at Zawarmala mine
  • Mochia mine’s decline integration with Balaria in the near term, which will lead to operational efficiencies

Sindesar Khurd

  • World-class silver-rich mine accounting for about 80% of Hindustan Zinc’s silver production
  • It is among the largest and the lowest cost mines globally and is on track to be India’s first fully connected mine
  • Produced 5.1 mn MT ore leading to mined metal production of 255 kt
  • Geotechnical challenges led to lower ore volume and also impacted ore grades
  • Ramped up production in the second half of the year on the back of rapid development, shaft hauling and faster turnaround time from backfilling
  • Mine digitalisation to create ‘mines of the future’ by starting to track underground vehicles on a real-time basis for centralised control and monitoring
  • Begun centralised task scheduling and management for machine operators using smart devices connected to the control room
  • Conducted remote operations of underground machines for enhanced safety
  • Commissioned second paste-fill plant and ramped it up to its designed throughput
  • Implemented several energy initiatives, including the installation of rooftop solar modules of 50 kw
  • Operationalised production shaft along with associated conveyor
  • Ramped up automation systems

Rajpura Dariba Mine

  • One of the legacy mines of our Company with the vision to double the ore production from current levels to reach 2.0 mn MT
  • Ore production stood at 1.0 mn MT leading to mined metal production of 45 kt
  • Started replacement of short feed jumbos with double boom jumbos to improve drilling rates
  • Installed new service equipment, including grader, diesel browser, personal carriers, scissor lifters and supervision equipment to achieve higher production targets
  • Committed to migrate to paste-fill and dry tail stacking to enhance water recovery and reduce waste footprint
  • Commissioned surface workshop and underground substations for strengthening the supply of power to the mine
  • Reticulated mine services through surface boreholes for delivering high-quality services to 60% of the mining area

Kayad Mine

  • The Company’s youngest mine, which started in 2013 and now operates at a capacity of 1.2 mn MT
  • Produced 77 kt of mined metal from an ore production of 1.1 mn MT
  • Constructed a fleet-wise parking yard to reduce traffic congestion and machine-to-machine interaction
  • Undertook several automation initiatives to reduce manual intervention
  • Introduced traffic lights with sensors to reduce man-machine interaction
  • Installed parking sensors on all underground light-moving vehicles to improve vehicle safety
  • Positioned a liquid fire suppression system in Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) and personnel carriers
  • Not applicable

Zenith

of Silver

Hindustan Zinc is now the world’s sixth largest primary silver producer with a large silver R&R base of 898 mn ounces. Silver now accounts for 13% of our revenue, having grown at a CAGR of 16% over the last five years to $345 mn.

Over the last decade, we have organically grown our silver production by 4.4 times to 610 tonnes or 19.61 mn ounces in FY2020, at a CAGR of 16%. This feat has been achieved through increased mining, higher silver grades as well as improvement in silver recovery rate. About three-fourth of our silver comes from Sindesar Khurd mine, which is among the top underground zinc-lead-silver mines in the world with a high silver reserve grade of 118 ppm.

Our growth story is still on as we are targeting over 1,000 MT of silver production over the next three years on the back of higher production from existing as well as new silver-rich deposits and technology-driven increase to benchmark silver recovery rates. This will put us in the league of top 3 silver producers in the world.

We are targeting to be among the top 3 global silver producers over the next three years through higher mining and enhanced silver recovery.