PANJIM: Fresh investigation by State government has revealed that as of now 14 mines are involved in various kinds of illegalities, including encroachment outside their lease areas.

According to the details tabled in the House, 14 mining lease holders are either involved in illegal extraction or encroachment outside the mining lease. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday told the house that the investigation to nail the illegalities as pointed by the Justice M B Shah Commission is under way.

Goa Mining Affected People's Front has demanded a raise in the dole announced by the state government and resumption of stalled activity in a sustainable manner.

"Firstly, we have not asked the government for any schemes or packages. How long will the government support the people? The amount proposed is not adequate....We do not want to live like beggars but want a life of dignity", Christopher Fonseca, spokesman, Goa Mining Affected People's Front (GMAPF) told PTI. The organisation, which has been holding demonstrations at Azad Maidan here for the last two weeks, said it would intensify the protests across the state if their demands are not looked into.

Aiming to expedite disposal of applications for renewal of mining leases, the steel & mines department has rejected 135 such applications of a total of 323 applicants.

“We have already rejected 135 applications for mine lease renewal. These applications did not merit renewal as they lacked the necessary statutory clearances. The department is making all efforts to dispose off pending applications in accordance with the directive of the Odisha High Court,” said an official source.

Now, environmental clearances have to be sought two years in advance

PANJIM: The Centre’s directive that all mining leases, due for renewal, have to apply for environmental clearance two years in advance of the expiry of the lease, could further complicate matters for the mining industry, as a majority of the mines in the State are up for renewal.

The State government has started the process of renewal of leases after the deemed renewal regime was practiced for so long.

Company aims to produce 10 million tonnes of iron ore per annum in the first phase from the proejct

Vedanta group firm Sesa Goa has finalised the capital expenditure plan for its Liberian iron ore mining project and plans to begin shipments from it from February 2014, a top company official said. The company is aiming to produce 10 million tonnes of iron ore per annum in the first phase from Liberia's Western Clusters project, which it had acquired in two phases for about $123.5 million (about Rs 595 crore).

The inter-ministerial committee of the Odisha government constituted to formulate a policy for offering raw materials to state based industries will seek more time for submission of its report.

Though the panel was mandated to submit its report by January 30, exactly three months after the notification dated October 30 last year, it was yet to finalize the report.

Sale price at Rs 5,600/tonne compared to raising cost of Rs 600

The All Odisha Steel Federation (AOSF), a body representing the interests of local steel units and sponge iron manufacturers, has stepped up the ante on mine owners, accusing them of making huge profits by selling iron ore to end use industries at exorbitant prices. AOSF held that after the notification of the state steel & mines department dated December 5 last year that made selling of at least 50% of their ore to local industries compulsory, two lessees- Sirajuddin and Indrani Patnaik had offered ore for sale to such units.

Odisha-based Geomin Minerals, which has been locked in a legal battle with Korean giant Posco for an iron ore prospecting licence in the Kandadhar mines in Sundergarh district, on Wednesday opposed a Supreme Court move to ask the Centre to make an assessment of all potential contenders for the licence.

The company had first challenged the Odisha government’s recommendation to allot the prospecting mining licence to Posco in the High Court, which cancelled the mine and asked the state to conduct the exercise afresh. Both Geomin and Posco then moved the HC against the decision.

According to a top company official, JSW Steel is trying to feed its blast furnaces with the most inferior raw material for the first time

JSW Steel, which is facing severe shortage of iron ore for its 11-million tonne Vijaynagar steel plant in Bellary district, is planning to experiment with very low-grade and inferior quality ore having iron (Fe) content between 40 and 50 per cent. The company has so far used ore with Fe content up to 52 per cent. Now, for the first time it is trying to feed its blast furnaces with the most inferior raw material, a top company official said. The company is currently operating its Bellary plant at 68 per cent capacity due to poor supply of iron ore.

With collusive bidding by the "mining mafia" thwarting Punjab Government's attempts to auction 13 sand quarries in the state, the government has decided to re- auction these.The government also proposes to make amends in the mining policy to ensure that the re- auction sails through.

After the Punjab Cabinet approves the re-auction of the quarries at a Cabinet meeting scheduled for January 28, the Punjab Industries Department proposes to increase the earnest money to be deposited for participating in the auction, raise the reserve price of each of these quarries and have a say in calling off the auction without assigning any reason, in case collusive bidding is suspected.