Millions of rupees pumped in to national economy:

Kahatagaha Mines in remarkable turnaround

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The Kahatagaha mine

The graphite wall

Mine workers

Going down the shaft

Sri Lanka has several government institutions that are in the red and are totally dependent on the Treasury for their survival. For the Government which provides free healthcare and education, a fertiliser subsidy, Samurdhi and many other handouts to the public, maintaining these institutions is a major problem.

The irony with regard to some of these loss-making institutions is that they were, at one time, running at profits and only have now become white elephants.

Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka Limited (KGLL) too was one such state institution which was written off. Unlike some other State institutions this multimillion dollar 'gold mine, remained shut down for nearly six years.

Kahatagaha Graphite, which is one of the deepest graphite mines in the world, was taken over by the Government in 1971 and subsequently privatised in 1992. However, due to mismanagement and other issues, it was closed down in 1996. The mine was re-opened under the management of the present Chairman, D. Kalansooriya and they had to clear many overheads which included over Rs. 50 million in back wages and over Rs. 100 million in bank loans.

In 2005, in keeping with the new government policy under Mahinda Chinthana not to privatise any State-owned enterprises, KGLL was to be revived as a public enterprise. So, the non-functional organisation was re-opened, revived and strengthened.

"I am happy to say that KGLL has been removed from the non-functioning organisations list from 2011. We are now a profit-making venture contributing millions to the national economy and also earning valuable foreign exchange thus helping narrow the export-import gap," Chairman Kalansooriya said.

"We have achieved a net profit of Rs. 193 million from 2006 to 2012," he said proudly. "This has helped us to be self-sufficient in finances and our dependency on the Treasury was zeroed.

Unused graphite

"When I took over, there was a lot of unused graphite and the first thing we did was to export them which generated an income of around Rs. 80 million," he said.

The Kahatagaha Mines are located in the North Western Province at Maduragoda, Dodangaslanda in the Kurunegala district. The mine extends as far as 500 metres at its widest point. In addition to that, out of 102 acres, 75 acres of coconut cultivation are also managed by KGLL.

Kahatagaha Mine is 2000 feet (610 metres) deep which makes it the deepest mine in Sri Lanka and is accessed by two shafts.

The one at Kahatagaha is 1132 feet (345 metres) and Kolongaha goes up to 330 feet (101 metres). The below shaft bottom access is by a series of winches up to 2000 feet (610 metres). The main winch is operated to send underground workers up to 1,132 feet level, to reach up to 2,000 feet level.

There are two major mines in Sri Lanka - Bogala and Kahatagaha. Earlier, the Kahatagaha and Kolongaha mines were operated as two mines, since 1872. Presently, these two mines are amalgamated and work as a single mine.

"KGLL is a 100 percent export-oriented company, and its major export countries are USA, UK, Japan, Australia, India and Pakistan. New inquiries have also been made for Kahatagaha graphite from Brunel University of United Kingdom - to be used in Boeing aeroplanes and also in future testing of NASA space rockets.

"In a bid to increase profitability, we are now in the process of introducing value addition programs to use Kahatagaha graphite in raw form as a separate organisation, in keeping with Government policy," Kalansooriya said.

"Further, we had negotiations with the Faculty of Science and Technology Cell of the University of Colombo and they have submitted their report for a value addition project in Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka Limited. This project has been estimated at Rs. 1.5 million and KGLL intends to start this project in the near future," the Chairman said.

Value-added products

"Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTEC) has tested Kahatagaha graphite in raw form for making nano tubes as a value-added end product and such testing has been successful. They are now awaiting the patent licence from USA."

"Steps are being taken to modify the processing system, to improve the efficiency of processing Run of Mine (ROM) to achieve buyer requirements, upto micronising processing."

With the assistance of the Faculty of Science and Technology Cell of the University of Colombo, KGLL has already started a project which is being implemented to manufacture new products.

Graphite is the mineral version of the naturally occurring crystalline forms of high carbon. Graphite is soft, insoluble, tasteless, odourless, greasy to touch, and iron black to steel grey in colour.

As graphite was mined from the earth it was called 'Mihiran' in Sinhala in the early days which later came to be known as 'Miniran'.

The properties of graphite, such as stability at high temperatures, chemical inertness, non-toxicity and lubricity have made it an important raw material for modern industries.

While having world recognition, Sri Lanka is the only commercial source of carbon natural crystalline vein graphite and Kahatagaha Mine is capable of mining high purity natural vein graphite where over 99 percent of carbon is in fully crystallised form.

It is found as needles, lumps, rossets, and flakes, enjoying monopoly of high carbon crystalline vein graphite with low ash content, having a proven reputation of world market acceptance as an unique product.

Over 30 percent of the world consumption of graphite is in the form of refractories, crucibles, retorts, stoppers, gaskets, bearings, dry cell batteries, varnishes and paints, sleeves and nozzles for industrial purposes. Other major applications are in foundries (15 percent), lubricants (14 percent), brake linings (13 percent), and pencils (seven percent). High purity carbon graphite is also used as raw form for modern high-tech purposes and nano technology.

Today, KGLL's total workforce is 108 including skilled miners and other technical staff.

It is set to be a major contributor to the national economy. The turnaround has once again proved that the 'State sector too can make huge profits which is an eye-opener for other loss-making State institutions.

Working at a height	A skilled mine worker
The new mine	The mine tunnel