1. At a Glance
Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Ltd (SMIORE) is that old-school mining company which looks boring on the surface, but quietly prints cash while everyone is busy chasing fancy narratives. Founded in 1954, headquartered in Karnataka’s mineral belt, and sitting on some of the most valuable low-phosphorous iron and manganese reserves in India, this company has turned itself into a vertically integrated mining + ferro-alloy + coke + power operation.
Market cap stands at roughly ₹10,366 crore, the stock trades around ₹213, and the last one-year return is a spicy ~81%. Not bad for a “boring” miner. Trailing twelve-month sales are ₹4,898 crore, PAT is ₹578 crore, and ROCE sits at a respectable ~21%. Debt? Yes, it exists – about ₹1,854 crore – but management has already approved early redemption of ₹423 crore of 11% NCDs, which is basically saying, “Relax, we’ve got this.”
Latest quarterly numbers show ₹1,209 crore revenue and ₹116 crore PAT in Q3 FY26. Margins have cooled from peak commodity euphoria, but operations remain solid. Promoters hold a chunky 74.2%, with zero pledging. This isn’t a fly-by-night mining story; it’s a controlled, court-approved, regulator-friendly, old-money mining house.
Now the real question: is this a cyclical sugar high or a structurally stronger Sandur 2.0? Let’s dig. Literally.
2. Introduction
Mining companies are usually treated like villains in Bollywood films: loud, dirty, cyclical, and always one government notification away from chaos. Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Ltd somehow escaped this stereotype by doing three things right – resource security, compliance discipline, and vertical integration.
SMIORE operates in the Hosapete–Ballari belt of Karnataka, an area that has seen enough court cases to scare most investors away. But Sandur survived every regulatory earthquake because its mining leases, forest clearances, and production limits are boringly compliant. Two key mining leases – ML-2678 and ML-2679 – are valid till 2033, covering over 1,999 hectares. Reserves stand at 110 MT of iron ore and 17 MT of manganese ore, which is miner-speak for “long runway, no panic.”
Over the years, Sandur realised that selling raw ore alone is like selling milk without making butter. So it built ferro-alloy plants, coke ovens, and power generation units. Today, mining contributes ~64% of revenue, coke & energy ~26%, and ferro-alloys ~11%. This integration cushions margins when commodity prices wobble.
Add to
that: export optionality post the Supreme Court lifting Karnataka iron ore export restrictions in May 2022. First export shipment happened in Q4 FY24, and inventory is already moving to ports. Translation? Optional upside without betting the farm on exports.
So yes, this is a mining company. But it behaves more like a disciplined industrial enterprise than a speculative resource lottery ticket.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Let’s simplify Sandur’s business model like you’re explaining it to a sleepy investor at 2 a.m.
Step 1: Dig Stuff Out of the Ground
Sandur mines iron ore (56–58% Fe) and low-phosphorous manganese ore. Lump to fine ratio is about 1:2, which matters because lump fetches better pricing. Approved capacities stand at 3.81 MTPA for iron ore and 0.46 MTPA for manganese, with approvals already in place to push iron ore to ~4.5 MTPA and manganese to 0.58 MTPA.
Step 2: Convert Stuff Into Better Stuff
Instead of selling everything raw, Sandur processes ore into silico-manganese and ferro-manganese, critical inputs for steelmaking. Ferro-alloy capacity is 95,000 TPA (SiMn) and 1,25,000 TPA (FeMn).
Step 3: Make Coke, Because Steel Needs Fire
Sandur operates four coke oven batteries with 0.5 MTPA capacity. Coke isn’t glamorous, but it’s essential – and profitable when managed well.
Step 4: Generate Power, Reduce Costs
The company runs 32 MW WHRB power generation and recently commissioned a 42.9 MW hybrid renewable energy plant. This reduces dependence on grid power and keeps ferro-alloy costs under control.
Step 5: Optional Exports
Exports were banned, then allowed, then debated endlessly.
