TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A fresh hurdle has beset the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) even as it is all set to begin e-auctioning of stacked iron ore, with a section of mine owners and prospective bidders desiring that the government first declare which of the stacked ore is ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’, and disclose the exact grade of the ore. Some are even questioning the success of the e-auction.
Mine owner Harish Melwani has made official representation to Chief Secretary B Vijayan, and some other some mine owners met Mines Secretary Pawan Kumar Sain to discuss the issue. They claimed that the issue of legality and quality of the ore would also be raised before the Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee headed by Dr U V Singh.
“We are not against e-auctioning, but let the buyer know whether he is buying legal ore or illegal ore. DMG has confiscated nearly 4 million metric tons of illegal ore lying at various plots. What about the balance 11 million metric tons? Though it belong to various mine owners, its legality is still not clear,” Melwani said.
He pointed out that Government in its submission before Supreme Court had said that since the excavated mineral ores cannot be put back and if these are allowed to remain in the mines / stockyards, the environment would be polluted and, therefore, the excavated mineral ores should be allowed to be transported as early as possible. “However, the legality aspect was not touched then,” he stated.
The prospective bidders are worried about the quality of the ore. The bidders want DMG to ascertain the quality of the ore before going ahead with e-auction.
As per information, Goan ore does not contain just the Fe (iron) content which has a bearing on the grade, but also the SiO2 (Silica) and Al2O3 (Alumina) along with the phosphorus and Sulphur content.
Meanwhile, the members of e-auction committee have arrived in the State.
