Based on the data shared by the industry, NALCO has a stockpile of nearly 7.13 million tonnes of red mud after producing alumina at its Odisha Damanjodi refinery. This accumulation is deemed to be rising as the firm predicts it will extract about 2.4 to 2.5 million tonnes of red mud each year as a byproduct from its refining process.
Red mud extraction = rise in critical minerals
The firm, in lieu of dumping the red mud, is partnering with CSIR labs, which include the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) in Bhubaneswar and the National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML) in Jamshedpur. This partnership will focus on developing technologies which shall aid in extracting valuable minerals like alumina, rare earths like scandium from the bauxite residue, lithium and iron.
To make the initiative a further success, the firm is undertaking a plan to start a recycling plant, which will be capable of handling 10 tonnes per day and act as a test to determine whether this can be extended to a larger scale.
If the entire plan works out, this will create a significantly bigger leap for the country as the possibility of sourcing critical minerals, which are vital for clean energy tech and high-tech manufacturing, domestically will increase and the dependence on imports will subsequently decrease.
Apart from critical minerals, it benefits building & construction
NALCO has already been experimenting, converting the red mud into bricks, which are highly used in the building and construction sector. For this initiative, the firm has already commenced a pilot brick plant in Nagpur by collaborating with Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC).
The idea behind this plant is to scale the brick production by producing nearly 10 lakhs bricks per year. In this process, red mud is mixed with additives and clay, followed by moulding and firing it in a kiln.
