State-owned MOIL (formerly Manganese Ore India Ltd) is looking to enter into MoUs for exploration and possible acquisition of manganese mines in the Central African nation of Gabon, while due diligence and discussions are under-way for similar acquisition opportunities in South Africa, a top official aware of the developments told businessline.

If mining activity materialises, it would be the company’s first foray overseas.

Listed on the bourses, MOIL is a CPSE under the Ministry of Steel. It accounts for 50 per cent of India’s manganese ore production, making it the largest in the country.

According to the official, due diligence was carried out in Gabon, for possible high grade manganese ore exploration and mining, and the company would now look to enter into G2G levels MoUs.

“We will sign MoUs soon. This would allow us access to some areas where we carry out exploration, determine reserves, the commercial feasibility of the projects. And then carry out mining activities – extraction and processing – for manganese ore,.” the official said.

Investments towards overseas operations are yet to be finalised.

The company CMD, Ajit Kumar Saxena, during a previous interaction, had said, it would look at expanding into overseas geographies, including Africa – South Africa and Gabon, Australia and in Latin nations like Brazil, for expansion of manganese ore extraction operations.

South Africa is said to have the largest manganese ore reserves globally, while Gabon has around 25 per cent of the world’s resources. Australia on the other hand is known to be a major exporter of manganese ore.

Manganese ore is used in steel-making to regulate the manganese content in hot metal. Infusion of manganese is done to improve strength, workability and wear (and tear) resistance of steel.

In July 2018, a team from MOIL visited Gabon to explore the possibility of joint collaboration with Gabonese mining companies.

India Expansion Plans

In India, MOIL is already focusing on brownfield as well as greenfield projects to enhance the production. Capex for FY25 and FY26 are pegged at ₹328 crore and ₹340 crore, respectively, as per a recently analyst call hosted by the company.

New projects have been taken up in Gujarat (mining in the Pani area) and Chhattisgarh (received the go ahead for carrying out exploration in 218 square kilometres area in the Nilkanthpur block, Balrampur). In Madhya Pradesh, it is exploring the possibility of mining in-Jhabua, Jabalpur and Balaghat. Exploration has been completed in Chhindwara.

At present, MOIL operates 10 mines – six located in the Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra and four in the Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. And, in the first nine months of FY25, production stood at 13.3 lakh tonne, up 4.5 per cent y-o-y; while sale stood at 11.39 lakh tonne, up 4 per cent.