Bailadila in Dantewada: the iron ore range behind Bacheli, Kirandul and the Nagarnar pellet chain
Background
The Bailadila range in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh carries the iron ore deposits worked by NMDC Limited, a central public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Steel.
Bacheli is the mining and processing settlement on the range, and Kirandul is the other principal mining town.
Ore fines and slimes from the Bailadila operations are turned into concentrate, which is then made into pellets for steelmakers.
Nagarnar, near Jagdalpur in Bastar district, is the site of NMDC's downstream plant complex.
A 135-km slurry pipeline links the processing plant on the range to Nagarnar, running through Bastar and Dantewada districts.
In plain words
Ore fines iron ore fines — The small-sized particles left over from mining and crushing iron ore, too fine to charge directly into a blast furnace.
Concentrate iron ore concentrate — Ore from which much of the waste rock has been removed, raising the iron content.