Varun Energy Corporation, Madagascar (a group company of Varun Industries Ltd), has signed a memorandum of understanding with a PSU under the Department of Atomic Energy to sell the entire heavy mineral concentrate (rare earth) such as ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, monazite, zircon, sillimanite and garnet that it produces.
According to the deal, the PSU would procure the mineral concentrate from Varun Mines to ensure suitability of the constituent minerals for its local operations. Varun would operationalise its Madagascar plant to supply the mineral concentrate in the next 8-10 months and would supply approximately 5 lakh tonnes of heavy minerals a year.
Varun group has taken technical support from Indian Rare Earths Ltd for conducting the necessary analysis. The Group had discovered 10 heavy mineral sand mining blocks in Madagascar and the total heavy mineral resources in the permitted area was about 266.8 million tonnes.