“Steel and allied industries facing shortage of iron ore”

Taking into account the acute shortage of iron ore, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has recommended to the Supreme Court to consider permitting resumption of operations in all “Category-A” mining leases in Karnataka where mining has been suspended. The CEC also said the Court “may consider permitting resumption of mining in ‘Category-B’ leases subject to the conditions as applicable for resumption of operations in the ‘Category-A’ leases and compliance with certain additional conditions.”

The Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee, which is supervising the e-auction of iron ore in Karnataka, is likely to bring iron ore dumps for auction later this month. The committee is awaiting final approval from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to auction about six million tonnes (mt) of dumps.

“The assessment of dumps in Bellary district has been completed and it is estimated that about six mt of dumps could be auctioned. The CEC recently visited various mines in Bellary district and took on record the dumps available for auction. However, the grading of dumps is still to be completed and once that is done, the ore could be put on auction,” sources close to the development told Business Standard.

The R&R Plans have been prepared and approved by CEC for 51 mining leases comprising of 28 Category A and 23 Category B mining leases

The ore-starved steel mills in Karnataka have some sweet news to cheer as the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), has recommended the resumption of mining in all Category A mining leases. The CEC has also recommended that the court may consider permitting the resumption of mining operations in Category B mining leases subject to fulfillment of certain conditions.

Iron ore mining is set to resume on a full scale in Karnataka with the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) recommending that all lessees under A and B categories be permitted to restart mining operations.

The panel, in its recommendations to the apex court, has said that all the leases under category A can be permitted to excavate ore. The apex court, on September 3, 2012, had permitted resumption of mining for 18 of the 45 leases in category A. With CEC’s latest recommendations, the remaining 27 will resume operations.

Goa’s mining industry took their urgent plea to the Prime Minister on Monday seeking his help to resume mining in the state.

In a memorandum presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an organisation representing workers and other mining beneficiaries pleaded “an affirmative political consensus between the state and the central government for urgent and immediate resumption of mineral development operations in Goa.” Mining in the state came to a halt after a Centre-appointed committee raised serious issues with the decade-old practices, government connivance in giving clearances, and other objections. The iron-ore rich state primarily exports its low-grade ore to Chinese steelmakers.

PANJIM/NEW DELHI: The Goa Foundation PIL which resulted in suspension of all mining operations in Goa is listed before the Forest Bench of the Supreme Court for Friday, but it may or may not come up as six other cases are listed before it for consideration by the Bench that meets only in the post-lunch session from 2 pm.

The petition was filed in the wake of Justice M B Shah Commission report on illegal mining in Goa, which exposed projected illegalities amounting to Rs 35,000 crore.

Together, these mines are allowed to produce 3.3 mt of ore a year, about 10% of the iron ore requirement of steel mills in the state

About 10 months after the Supreme Court had approved the resumption of mining operations by 18 category-A mines, six mines have resumed operations in Karnataka. Together, these mines are allowed to produce 3.3 million tonnes (mt) of ore a year, about 10 per cent of the iron ore requirement of steel mills in the state.

The state government in its affidavit filed in the illegal mining case has informed the Supreme Court (SC) that it has serious objections to bodies like the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) inquir

Iron ore supply likely to be disrupted further in Karnataka if panel finds fault with these miners

Supply of iron ore to steel mills in and around Karnataka might be disrupted further if the central empowered committee (CEC), appointed by the Supreme Court to probe alleged irregularities of nine mining companies, including Sesa Goa Ltd, finds fault with the firms. The forest bench of the apex court, hearing a fresh interlocutory application (IA) filed by the petitioner in illegal mining, Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS), a Dharwad, Karnataka-based non-government organisation, directed CEC on February 1 to initiate the probe and submit a report to it.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said he would seek to convene a meeting of concerned ministries in a bid to thrash out a solution to the problems faced by mining industry in Goa.

He assured this after meeting the pro-mining agitators, holding chain sit-in protests under the banner of Goa Mining Affected People's Front (AMAPF), at Azad maidan here for over a fortnight.