PANJIM: The country’s largest iron ore producers Sesa Sterlite of the Vedanta Group will now be able to mine only 6.5 million tonnes of fresh ore annually from its 21 renewed mining leases. The cap for Sociedade Fomento Timblo has been halved to 3.5 million tonnes for its 12 mining leases from the earlier 7 million tonnes annual cap.
The annual production of most firms has been slashed by 50 percent from the earlier environment clearance (EC) limit.
The Directorate of Mines and Geology has prepared a lease-wise cap for the 89 renewed mining leases, the list will be sent to Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for revocation of suspension imposed on ECs. The cap has been imposed on each lease to ensure that overall production does not exceed the Supreme Court’s 20 million tonnes cap. Earlier a total of 42 to 50 million tonnes of ore were extracted and exported annually.
Information suggests that Sesa Sterlite, whose original EC limit was 14 million tonnes annually, will now be able to extract only 6.5 million tonnes of ore from its 21 leases. These 21 leases include the seven leases purchased from Dempo Mining Corporation in 2009.
For the second largest iron ore exporters in Goa – Sociedade Fomento Timblo – the cap has been fixed at 3.5 million tonnes for its 12 mining leases, which include mines belonging to Pandurang Timblo and Pramod Timblo. As per the old EC limit, the Timblos had a mining cap of 7 million tonnes annually.
The capping for the Chowgule’s seven mining leases is fixed as 1.83 million tonnes. V M Salgaocar mining companies, whose 11 mining lease are renewed, can mine 1.40 million tonnes of fresh ore annually. This is followed by Kunda Gharse mine, whose two leases can extract up to one million tonne of ore annually.
Damodar Mangalji mining company, one of the State’s oldest mining firms, has been given a cap of 0.7 million tonnes for its four mining leases.
The lease-wise capping for the mines was prepared after MoEF Minister Prakash Javdekar raised apprehension about illegal extraction if suspension of ECs was revoked without fixing limit for
each lease.
