Mining companies survive on hope...and a prayer (ToI)

Mining companies survive on hope...and a prayer Murari Shetye, TNN | Sep 9, 2013, 01.33 AM IST PANAJI: From being the largest source of revenue generation for the state, contributing to over 55% of iron ore exports from the country, today, one year since the mining ban, mining companies in Goa are living on hope and a prayer. The over 60-year-old mining industry in Goa was brought to a standstill on September 10, 2012, following the Shah Commission report which pegged a loss of Rs35,000 crore to the state exchequer due to illegal mining. Speaking to TOI, P K Mukherjee, MD of Sesa Goa, said, "We are living on hope and that is the only thing that helps us get on with life. With constant assurances about the resumption of mining by the Centre, and promises of a continuous hearing by the Supreme Court, we can only be hopeful that there will soon be light at the end of the tunnel." Sesa Goa Ltd and Sesa Resources Ltd, together, exported over 14 million tonnes of iron ore before mining came to a halt in Goa, and is now focusing on conserving cash and going slow on expansion projects outside the state and country. But not all of them can afford to rely on hope, alone. Audhut Timblo, chairman and managing director of Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd, said, "We cannot keep our workers idle, so we are now looking towards Brazil. The deposits there are far bigger than those in Goa and the quality is also more promising." The company has already got into an agreement with a local entrepreneur in Brazil to commence mining activities and is also exploring options in Mozambique. "It would require another three to five years to get into actual production," Timblo said, claiming that Fomento's mine in Brazil alone, is equal to the entire mining deposits available in the state of Goa. Fomento is the second largest iron ore exporter from the state. Fomento's Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd, Prime Mineral Exports Pvt Ltd, Fomento Exports Pvt Ltd, and Infrastructure Logistics Pvt Ltd exported over 7 million tones of ore. Shivanand V Salgaocar, managing director, V M Salgaocar, said that "mining activities would definitely resume in Goa, but there is no way of predicting when". "The company has no plans of going aboard to explore new mines, but is in the process of obtaining all necessary permissions to resume mining in Karnataka as the apex court recently lifted the mining ban there." V M Salgaocar and Bros Pvt Ltd exported 3.5 million tonnes of iron ore before mining came to a standstill in Goa. Mukherjee said that Sesa is currently pursuing a project in Liberia, but added that this has nothing to do with the mining ban in the state. "At the moment, because of cash constraints, we are going slow with the project. We have shifted our total focus on conserving cash. Our focus is to keep the morale of our manpower high so that whenever we are allowed to resume mining, we can start work," Mukherjee said, adding, "We will concentrate on expansion only after the resumption of mining." http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Mining-companies-survive-on-hope--and-a-prayer/articleshow/22424499.cms