The government of the western Indian coastal state of Goa will engage a third party to evaluate freshly mined iron ore at mines aiming to collect accurate royalty and premium based on the average sale price determined by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), a government official said on Friday, October 24.
The decision comes because the state department of mines and geology does not have laboratories to assess iron ore grades, he said.
IBM fixes the average sale price of different grades of ore ranging from Fe content of 45 percent to 51 percent and the mines department collects royalties and premium based on this and an accurate assessment of the grade is essential for the government to collect its dues from the ore mined, he added.
Mining companies will have to submit their grade reports prepared by a third party and, after the grade report of the mines department and the third party are compared, royalties and premiums would be fixed.