PANAJI
The Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has granted environmental clearance (EC) to Kalay Mineral Block located in Sanguem taluka, belonging to Fomento Resources Pvt Ltd. EC is granted for production of 0.75 million tonnes of iron ore annually.
The project proponent had approached the Ministry seeking EC for the Kalay Mineral Block – Block IV (Auction Block), for the mining of iron ore with a production capacity of 0.75 MTPA and waste generation of 3.0 MTPA, over a mine lease area of 152.5073 hectares, following recommendation from the Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC).
The Ministry has directed the company to obtain all the required permissions including forest and wildlife clearance, Consent to establish and operate from the Goa State Pollution Control Board before commencement of the mining activities.
As per the proposal, the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary lies 1.04 km from the eastern boundary of the lease bound area, however, the mineral block located at Sanotana village falls outside the notified Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) boundary of the sanctuary and national park.
The Project Proponent was granted the Letter of Intent by the Directorate of Mines and Geology in January 2023 for a total area of 179.1826 hectares. Subsequently, the Directorate revised the area of Block IV – Kalay Mineral Block to 152.5073 hectares by excluding 26.6753 hectares falling within the ESZ.
The project area includes forest land, and the PP has received in-principle Stage-I Forest Clearance for 21.133 hectares of forest land under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, granted on 12.05.2025 by the competent authority following the Advisory Committee's recommendation.
Approval of Mine plan was obtained from the Indian Bureau of Mines on 23.08.2024 while the public hearing for the project was held in January, this year.
Following directions from the High Court, the project proponent prepared a transportation plan to transport the mined out iron ore from the Kalay Mineral Block to either the Sanvordem or Capxem jetties, located approximately 12 to 14 km from the mine site, via State Highway-7.
The transportation route includes an internal haul road of 2.5 km within the lease area and a public road stretch (SH-7) of about 11.5 km, which has a width ranging between 8 to 10 meters. Two route options have been proposed: From Kalay Mineral Block to Sanvordem/Capxem Jetty via Ambeudoc and Sanvordem Junction and from Kalay Mineral Block to Sanvordem/Capxem Jetty via Bandoli and Sanvordem Junction.
