Hindalco Industries Limited an Indian aluminium and copper manufacturing company, is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group.

The Samri Mines are located in the Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh. Mining is carried out as a split process across several surface deposits. Manual labour is utilised to break boulders after blasting, separate the ore and stack bauxite stones into stacks.

The current bauxite mining process is undertaken via manual working. This includes:

- Sizing of bauxite boulders (via sledgehammer)

- Separation based on visual inspection of bauxite and iron ore content

- Stacking of bauxite-rich stones at the stockyard

- Manual loading of trucks for transportation

In some cases, screening is carried out for the mineral rejects to recover value out of it.

Please see attached supporting information here.

Hindalco is seeking to find solutions and new methodologies to mechanise manual jobs to provide more sage and reliable operations.

The goals of the project are:
- Improve Bauxite quality by managing silica & Iron-rich boulders
- Create immediate actions that can enhance efficiency and reduce reliance on manual labour
- Provide CAPEX investments in R&D and scalable technologies that will future-proof operations.

The solution may include, but is not limited to:
- Overall mining process design
- More efficient practices earlier in the mining process (such as blast design and fragmentation)
- Technologies for ore sorting and characterisation
- Solutions for more efficient and mobile sizing
- Mechanising stacking and loading of bauxite stones.

The solution must manage the following challenges:
- No power supply from the grid
- Scattered mining operations (making fixed equipment difficult)
- Complex deposit
- Avoid impurities of the bauxite stones
- Must be cost effective

Phase 1 - Submission Period

Suppliers are invited to submit their short-form solution to the challenge by Friday 11 April 2025 for evaluation by Austmine and Hindalco.

The solution submission questions can be viewed here.

A shortlisting process takes place and successful suppliers are invited to participate in phase 2.

Phase 2 Evaluation Period

Shortlisted suppliers will be invited to a technical briefing, where each supplier will be able to gain more information about the challenge from Hindalco. This will allow you to refine your proposed solution prior to the Pitch Session.

This is the opportunity to ‘sell’ your solution and gain feedback from operational teams, presenting directly to the Hindalco team. Each supplier will have a 15 minute time slot exclusively with Hindalco panel to pitch and engage in Q&A.

Phase 3 - Full Proposal Submission

Following the Pitch Session, shortlisted suppliers are invited to submit their formal technical and economic proposals.

Winner Announced

Hindalco will select the best fit solution/s for the challenge. Unsuccessful submitters are notified in writing by Austmine

Solution Submission deadline - Friday 11 April 2025

Technical Briefing - Late April

Pitch Sessions - Early May

Final Proposal Deadline - Mid May