Goa govt to inspect, quantify iron ore lying in the state

The Goa government has constituted several teams to inspect and quantify the iron ore stacked at various points in the state before allowing it to be exported, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The state government, in its order dated September 10, had decided to allow only the already extracted and ready for transportation ore to be exported, thus discouraging fresh extraction.

The teams comprising officials from the mines and forest departments and Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) will be inspecting the places where ore is stacked, state Mines and Geology director Prasanna Acharya told PTI .

"The permission to export ore would be given only after it is certified that it (ore) is legal," Acharya said.

After the Justice M B Shah Commission tabled its report in Parliament, the Goa government had suspended licences of all the mines.

It had also kept in abeyance the export of the ore, asking the companies to submit details of ore that was already extracted and lying at various places like mining leases, jetties, stockyards and others.

Acharya said majority of the companies submitted their details by September 21, the deadline set by the government.

"By October 1, all the processes to quantify and validate the ore would be completed. After that the exports may begin," he said.

A rough estimate by the government claims that almost one million metric tonnes of ore is lying at various points.

But the mining industry estimates the ore stacked at different places to be around seven million metric tons.

The mines department, however, is not sure on commencing of the fresh extraction in the mining leases.

"We are not sure as to when will the mining season begin," he said, adding that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is yet to revalidate the environment clearances (ECs) for the mines which they have kept in abeyance after the Shah Commission report.