Vedanta's iron ore division shipped its first 88,000 tonne iron ore cargo after resuming mining operations at its Codli, Bicholim and Surla mines in Goa.
The Anil Agarwal-led company has started mining operations in the state after a gap of three years. The shipment carrying the ore is being exported to China via the 'Ao Hong Ma' vessel, said Vedanta in a release today.
"Iron ore prices are in free fall and are nose-diving. We also are faced with an arduous task of recovering our fixed costs and look forward to a complete utilization of the manpower and resources," the release quoted Kishore Kumar, chief executive officer at Vedanta's iron ore division as saying.
Vedanta's iron ore business expects to mine 5.5 million tonne iron ore from its mines in Goa. The low grade ore is not used by domestic steel makers, and most of it will be exported by March 2016.
Meanwhile, the company is also looking for more production capacity allowance from the government which is now capped at 20 million tonne annually in the state. Removal of export duty for low grade iron and dumping of overburden and waste outside the lease are areas needing quick resolution for the mining industry.