The provincial government of the western Indian state of Goa will hold its next e-auction on August 4 for the sale of 1 million mt of iron ore fines lying in stockyards, a government official said on Tuesday, July 28.
Bids from buyers will need to be submitted online for the e-auction following inspection of the stocks lying across the state, he added. An estimated 16 million mt of iron ore fines, mostly low grade ore with Fe content less than 58 percent which was mined before the Indian Supreme Court banned mining in Goa in 2012, has been lying idle at stockyards and pitheads.
The Goa government has decided to hold the seventh e-auction despite the previous six auctions evoking little interest among buyers. In the previous six auctions, about 1 million mt of iron ore fines was put up for bids, but buyers bid for only 442,000 mt, the official added.