Mahalaxmi Area Operation is effectively a state-controlled asset. It is directly owned by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), which is a Miniratna Company domiciled in India and limited by shares. MCL is a 100% subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), in turn, CIL is controlled by the Government of India through a 63.13% stake, with the remainder held by a mix of institutional and retail investors.
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Summary:
Mahalaxmi Area is part of the Ib Valley Coalfield in Sundargarh district of Odisha. The coal-bearing strata belong to the Permian Gondwana sequence. Notably, the Barakar Formation outcrops in parts of the area and contains a well-developed suite of coal seams, whereas the underlying Talchir and Karharbari Formations do not surface within the block.
Siarmal OCP is consisting of Siarmal, Siarmal Extension and Banapatra blocks and located in northwestern central part of Ib River coalfield of Odisha, known as Gopalpur sector.
A total of around 13–16 coal seams (including splits) have been identified, classified into the Rampur seams (Rampur I through V) and Lajkura seams (Lajkura I through IV), with one Parkhani seam also recorded. The seams are thick and occur at shallow to moderate depths, making them amenable to opencast mining.
In Siarmal & Siarmal Extension and Banapatra block total 16 nos. of corelatable coal horizons/seams have been identified. In the Karharbari Formation Ib seam occurs in three splits. Barakar Formation contains seams Rampur and Lajkura in number of splits. Altogether, 13 nos. of seams / split seams are reported in Barakar Formation in this block. Among these, seam Rampur-I, II, III, IV, Lajkura-I, IIB, IIT1 and Lajkura-IV are the most potential thick coal horizons in this block.
Key mineable seams include Rampur-IV, Lajkura-I, Lajkura-II (Top section), and Lajkura-IV, which are the most promising coal horizons in this region. Seam thickness is substantial – the workable seams average around 11 m thick, with the thickest seams reaching up to 27 m in places.
The coal seams have a gentle dip; the gradient is low (on the order of only a few degrees), consistent with the broad synclinal structure of the Ib Valley. In the Siarmal block (the major mine in Mahalaxmi Area), coal seams extend from near-surface to about 180–200 m depth. The full thickness of the largest seam (Lajkura-I) is ~25 m with gentle inclination, indicating a massive deposit. Coal quality in these seams ranges from Grade E to G (mostly non-coking, thermal coal) with calorific values roughly 2,300–5,800 kcal/kg and moderate ash content.
In summary, Mahalaxmi's geology is characterized by multiple thick, flat-lying coal seams of the Barakar Formation, yielding significant extractable reserves at shallow depth – ideal for large-scale opencast mining.