Displaying items by tag: Limestone

Benin: The Council of Ministers plans to commission a feasibility study from a third party to look into building a 5000t/day clinker plant with a cement production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr. The government wants to preserve local limestone deposits through the creation of a national integrated cement plant that could supply the market, according to La Nouvelle Tribune newspaper. Cement sales increased by 30% in the country from 2016 to 2021 and this trend is expected to continue. The government hopes to build a new cement plant by 2026.

India: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has quashed UltraTech Cement’s environmental clearances for its Babarkot and Jafrabad limestone mines in Gujarat’s Amreli District, the Indian Express newspaper reports. The tribunal said that, as a cluster spanning over 50ha, extensions to the mines were subject to Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (MEFCC) approval. This was not granted at the time of the latest expansions’ approval by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority in 2018.

Nepal: Residents of the Arghakhanchi, Palpa, Pyuthan and Rolpa hill districts of Lumbini Province have reported that increased contamination with residues from limestone extraction has made many traditional water sources unreliable. the Kathmandu Post newspaper has reported that Alpha Cement, BS Cement, Kanchan Quarries, Hongshi Shivam Cement, Palpa Cement, Sarbottam Cement, Satyawati Cement and Siddhartha Minerals operate a total of 10 mines in the affected districts. Springs reportedly took 10 years to recover following the closure of Arghakhanchi Cement’s Narpani quarry in 2012.

India: ACC has announced its successful purchase at auction of the Kannur limestone block mineral reserve in Wadi, Kalaburagi District, from the Karnataka government. The producer plans to use the block to supply limestone for its Wadi cement plant.

Azerbaijan: Cement production grew by 6.3% year-on-year to 3.4Mt in 2021. 113,000t of cement in inventory was reported on 1 January 2022, according to the State Statistical Committee and the Trend News Agency. Production of construction gypsum and limestone rose by 48% and 4.4% to 35,800t and 35,800t respectively.

India: UltraTech Cement has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% ownership of National Limestone Company for US$3.09m. National Limestone Company’s parent company Ghadiya Group bought it from Holcim subsidiary ACC for US$2.5m in November 2020.

India: UltraTech Cement has emerged as the preferred bidder in the auction of limestone company Ravur Limestone. Ravur Limestone’s limestone assets consist of 708Mt of stone over 7.13km² in Tehsil Chittapur in Karnataka’s Kalburgi district. The Karnataka government will conduct the sale by electronic auction.

India: ACC and Ambuja Cements have partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) to develop a range of calcined clay cements with 50% lower CO₂ emissions than Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The collaboration will vary clinker, calcined clay and limestone levels in calcined clay cements in order to ascertain their effects on its performance. France-based Holcim Innovation Centre will fund the research.

Holcim India chief executive officer and managing director Neeraj Akhoury said "Through our extensive research and development setup, we consistently strive to develop new low-CO₂ materials for the construction industry. Calcined clay cement is one such avenue to make a significant quantitative difference in the industry and further accelerate our sustainability drive. Our academic partnership with IITD is a big step towards building a greener future and we are excited to collaborate with the best minds in the country."

The producers have previously partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) to study low-CO₂ binders with alternative reinforcements and with the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) to develop smart sensing technology for continuous on-site strength evaluation of a concrete structure.

Sweden: The government has extended Cementa’s permit to continue mining limestone at the quarries supporting its Slite cement plant for just over one year until the end of December 2022. The cement producer said that it would restart its mining activity immediately. However, it warned that the decision could still be appealed and work stopped whilst the case was pending. The subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement also refused to rule out shortages of cement in the future due to general uncertainty with the situation. Cementa has now started applying for a three to four year mining permit at the site.

Uzbekistan: The government has extended its suspension of tariffs on imports of cement until 1 November 2021. Business World Magazine News has reported that the policy aims to reduce the cost of housing. In order to support the domestic cement industry, producers’ tax rate will be reduced to 15% from 20%. The government will also halve taxes on natural resources.