India: Iron ore mining in Goa to resume full-scale in FY24

After years of deadlock, iron ore mining in Goa may resume in financial year 2023-24 (FY'24), Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured recently. The Goa government has taken steps for the auction of iron ore blocks to resume mining activities.

The first auctions of four iron ore mineral blocks were successfully completed in December 2022, and the government received an upfront payment of INR 43 crore from them.

It is expected that these four mineral blocks may start mining activities in FY'24.

Auctioned blocks

The Goa government has concluded auctions for four iron ore blocks - Monte de Sirigao, Sirigao-Mayem and Bicholim in North Goa and Kalay in South Goa.

SteelMint reported that Nana Bandekar won the Monte De Sirigao block by emerging as the preferred bidder, offering a premium of 111.28%.

The Monte De Sirigao mineral block is spread across an area of 95.67 hectares and has reserves of 9.514 mnt of iron ore with the average grade being Fe 57.39%.

Salgaonkar Shipping Company Pvt. Ltd. bagged the Sirigao-Mayem block for 99.2% premium of the average IBM sales price. The Kalay block was bagged by Fomento.

Sawant has informed that the second round of auctions of five more mining blocks was completed in April 2023.However, SteelMint learnt from sources that iron ore production volumes in Goa are not expected to cross 5-8 mnt in 2025 and 20 mnt in 2030.

India: Auction status

Around 100 iron ore blocks have been successfully auctioned in India since the historic amendment of the Mines and Minerals Development & Regulation Act (MMDR Act) in 2015, as per SteelMint data.

Out of the 100 iron ore blocks auctioned thus far, 33 are in Odisha and 27 in Karnataka - India's leading iron ore producing states.

Among the other key producers, 12 blocks are in Chhattisgarh, 9 in Maharashtra and 8 in Goa. There are blocks in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, too.

Outlook

India's iron ore production in FY'23 inched towards 260 mnt. Out of the auctioned blocks, just over 30-odd are in working status which shows that many more mines - especially those auctioned since 2021 - will move towards operationalisation sooner rather than later.

How are iron ore market dynamics changing in Goa ? These and many more topics will be thrashed out at SteelMint's 6th Indian Iron Ore & Pellet Summit, to be held jointly with the 3rd Indian Coal Outlook Conference and the 5th Indian DRI and Steel Conference, at the JW Marriott, in Kolkata, over 24-26 August. This is an ideal platform for furthering your business as more than 500 delegates will network under a single roof. Register now.