Panaji: The directorate of mines and geology (DMG) has moved to conduct the fourth auction of iron ore mines in Goa, with six blocks set to go under the hammer on April 16. Govt hopes to rake in Rs 230 crore as upfront payment through the auction, said director Narayan Gad.He said that five blocks are iron ore mines located in North Goa, with the remaining block known for iron ore and manganese ore deposits in South Goa.In North Goa, two blocks are at Cudnem, two at Pissurlem, and one at Adwalpale-Moitem. In South Goa, the Cavorem–Maina Mineral Block will be e-auctioned.“We created six blocks of the 10 working mines that were there earlier. These blocks have a reserve of around 170 million tonnes,” said Gad.The department will keep the auction documents on sale until March 16, after which the DMG will hold the bidding process for mining companies on April 16.“There are two big blocks in this round of auction, and so there is an effort to operationalise these blocks immediately. The CM said that as soon as the fourth auction is completed, govt will try and process the approvals, such as environmental clearance and forest clearance, on priority so that the blocks can start as early as possible,” said Gad.As of Dec, 12 iron ore mineral blocks were auctioned in Goa to revive the mining sector, including mines at Bicholim, Sirigao-Mayem, Cudnem, and Kalay, with several operated by firms like Vedanta Limited and Fomento Resources.“Of these 12 blocks, five are completely operational. In the next 15 days, one more block will start operating at Kaley. A month after that, we are likely to start another block at Honda. With the first five and these two, we will have seven mining blocks operational. The block at Kalay will be the first block in South Goa,” said Gad.The price of the tender document for the fourth round of auction for each mineral block is Rs 5 lakh, exluding GST.
