The Union ministry of mines on Thursday washed its hands of the perpetuation of illegal iron ore mining in Goa and informed the Supreme Court that permission for extraction of the mineral was subject to compliance of environment and forest clearances.

"The state mines department allows mining after satisfying that all the clearances/approvals under concerned statutes are obtained by the lessee," the mines department told a bench of Justices A K Patnaik, S S Nijjar and F M I Kaliful