Mining in Goa - A field which holds promise

The earliest geological survey of Goa took place at the turn of the century, when a French company Compagnie des Mines de Fer de Goa undertook some basic prospecting. Mining officially started in 1905, but remained very small scale and was stopped completely between the two world wars. In the 1950s, the Portuguese gave mining licences, for ludicrously small amounts of money, to a handful of local businessmen. After Independence in 1961, their rights to retain the licence was challenged in court by Indian government, but the mine owners obtained a reprieve. The businessmen who gained the original licences are now some of the largest and most powerful corporations in India. Dempo, Chowgule and Salgaonkar are just three of the biggest.

The main rivers Mandovi and Zuari flowing into the Arabian sea are navigable by barges used for transporting the ore. Huge barge vessels with capacity of 7000 to 10,000 Dry Weight Tonnage carry the iron ore to Marmugao harbour. Deposits in Goa are mainly haematite and extend in North West and South East direction in the hinterland. The main iron ore bearing zone is divided into four separate areas which are, Bicholim- Pale area, Sancordem area, Shigao- Kalay area and Sanguem - Quepem area. The iron ore bearing areas is continuous with little local variation in thickness and quality of the ore.

Changing prospects

Today, mining in Goa is big business. Iron ore, manganese ore and bauxite are the main minerals extracted, but limestone and china clay and a few other minerals are also mined in smaller quantities. The Iron ore is of low quality and is produced entirely for export, Japan being the main customer. As the open-cast mining has continued, more deposits have been discovered at lower levels. So the original estimates of 411 million tonnes of reserves have increased considerably. The mining companies are working against a law of diminishing returns however. For the lower deposits are not only of poorer quality but also harder to extract. Thus while some estimates have it that the ore will last for another 80 or so years, others claim that mining will cease being economically viable in 30 years.

One thing that is certain is that when mining does come to a halt, there will considarable financial and social problem for the sizable population dependant on it. Over the last 33 years, mining has earned Rs.46 billion in foreign exchange. Approximately 8000 people are directly employed and over 20,000 others work in mining related industries. The port of Mormugao for example, owes 90% of its traffic to the export of iron ore.

Text by: Levin Lawrence