Indian natural resources group Sesa Sterlite is still working on restarting operations at its Goan iron ore mines and to establish transport links with its Liberian concessions.
Sesa Sterlite would not say how it plans to restart production in Goa after the monsoon ends in September because the firm's strategy is linked to negotiations between the government and other leaseholders of Goan mines.
Production at the company's Goan mines has been halted since the Indian government banned all mining activity in the state in 2012. The Supreme Court lifted the ban on Goan iron ore mining in April this year but imposed a 20mn t/yr cap on extraction. Sesa Sterlite was the largest private-sector Indian iron ore exporter prior to the 2012 bans on mining in Goa and Karnataka. It produced 18.1mn t of iron ore in the fiscal year that ended in March 2011, of which Goa comprised 14.4mn t.
The company is still working with Liberia's government to solve the transportation of iron ore from the Western Cluster, which comprises three deposits, Sesa Sterlite chairman Tom Albanese said. The company had originally planned to start production in Liberia by March 2014 and reach a 2mn t/yr run-rate by the end of this year, rising to 30mn t/yr over time.
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