Bhubaneswar: Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd. (OMC) today successfully conducted the trial run of the Platinum Group Minerals (PGM) pilot plant at CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, for the extraction of Platinum Group Elements (PGEs) from ore sourced from Bangur Chromite Mines, Keonjhar.
The successful trial marks a significant advancement in India’s pursuit of self-reliance in strategic minerals. PGEs—such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium—are vital for clean energy technologies, electronics, and the automotive sector.
The pilot plant has been developed under a Rs 10 crore, two-phase R&D programme of the Odisha Mining Corporation, in collaboration with CSIR-IMMT and Mintek South Africa. It aims to establish India’s first integrated PGE beneficiation and smelting facility. This 1-tonne-per-hour pilot plant will now validate the consistency and scalability of PGE concentrate under real-time operating conditions.
Insights from joint field studies conducted by OMC, Mintek, and CSIR-IMMT teams at Bangur Mines in October 2025 have been instrumental in shaping the design and operations of the pilot plant.
This milestone reinforces OMC’s commitment to innovation and positions Odisha as a leader in advanced mineral processing, while strengthening India’s critical mineral security.
