State’s first low-grade iron ore dump auction gets lukewarm response

Panaji: State govt received a lukewarm response from the mining companies in the first low-grade iron ore dump auction with just one of the five dumps auctioned.

Kai International was the successful bidder for the 14 million tonnes low-grade iron ore dump located at Dharbandora after it placed a bid price of 22.1%.

State govt fixed the reserve price of 22% for the e-auction of low-grade iron ore dumps in the state. For instance, if the Indian Bureau of Mines price is Rs 100 per tonne for low-grade iron ore and mining companies purchase the ore at auction at the 22% reserve price, companies must pay Rs 22 per tonne to govt.

Govt identified 10 low-grade iron ore dumps in the state for auction, and five were put up for auction.

Out of five, two mining companies — Kia International and Vedanta—participated in the auction of the dump located at Dharbandora. Director of mines and geology Narayan Gad said that there was a single bidder for three dumps and three bidders for one dump. “Not a single bid was placed for four dumps,” he said.

Gad added that only dumps at Dharbandora had huge low-grade iron ore, and the other four were small dumps. He said that govt will soon conduct a second round of auction.

In Jan 2026, the directorate of mines and geology (DMG) postponed an auction of 10 iron ore dumps scheduled to be held on Friday.

After completing the first day of e-auctioning of low-grade iron ore dumps last year, the DMG cancelled the remaining three phases of auction of dumps that were scheduled for Jan 31 and Feb 3 and 4, 2025, due to a “technical issue”. In July, it annulled the process as it decided to change the procedure for the auctioning of low-grade iron ore.

The Supreme Court allowed Goa govt to carry out dump mining activity in the state in accordance with an expert committee’s report. Accordingly, the policy for regulating iron ore dump handling was notified on Sep 14, 2023. The Dump Handling Policy, 2023, paved the way to deal with the 700 million tonnes of low-grade iron ore lying inside and outside mining leases across Goa, and to export 25 million tonnes per annum. Up to 25 million tonnes of ore from dump handling can be exported.