The members of Shah Commission, enquiring into illegal mining activities, will reach Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

The fifth round of hearing of the state government and the miners by the Commission is expected to take place from Wednesday after Justice M B Shah reaches here. A team of the state officials including steel and mines secretary, will present their views in front of the panel members. They will be assisted by three Supreme Court advocates,

The Centre today asked the Odisha government to sort out the forest diversion issues expeditiously in the mining areas.

Electronic sale of key bulk minerals in Odisha like iron ore, manganese and chrome ore is expected to start from April 2013. E-auction services will be offered by Kolkata-based MSTC Ltd.

“We are making efforts to launch e-auction of iron ore, manganese and chrome ore from April 1, 2013. In December, we will convene a meeting of all stakeholders to decide the modalities of e-auction. Once a consensus is reached, we will take government order for beginning of electronic sale of minerals,” said director (mines) Deepak Mohanty.

The Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry probing into large scale illegal mining activities has urged collectors of Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar- the three mineral rich districts in Odisha, to furnish details of all iron ore and manganese leases on or before November 1.

“During the examination of records from October 4-11 in Bhubaneswar, it is observed that the district collector is supposed to grant surface rights for working to extract minerals from the granted mining leases. You are requested to furnish the detailed list of all iron ore and manganese ore leases in your district”, Sudhir S Shah, registrar, M B Shah Commission of enquiry wrote to the collectors of Kenjhar, Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj.

In a blow to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the Odisha government has refused allotment of iron ore mines in favour of the navratna PSU.

The state government has communicated its decision to the steel maker, citing its inability to allot iron ore mines since it has already decided to reserve all the balance mineral bearing areas in favour of its own PSU- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). “Your request for allotment/reservation of good iron ore blocks in Odisha in favour of RINL may not be considered as the state government through a resolution dated September 18, 2012 has decided to reserve the remaining area bearing iron ore for undertaking prospecting or mining operation through OMC”, B Behera, under secretary (steel & mines) wrote to RINL's chairman and managing director.

The commission during its recent visit to the state from October 3-11 scrutinised records of 81 mines out of a total of 186 mining leases

The Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry which is set to visit Odisha for the third time from October 31 will take up field verification of select mines in Koira sector in Sundergarh district. “During its last visit, the Shah Commission had confined its probe to checking file records of all iron ore and manganese ore lessees. This time, they have communicated to us regarding their plan to visit a few mines in Koira circle. The probe panel will take up field verification during October 31-November 3,” said a senior steel & mines department official.

The Joda mining circle under the state steel and mines department has issued show cause notices to 42 iron ore and manganese mines lease holders over last two weeks in excess raising cases and has urged them to take steps to return the amount of money they have gained by selling the excess mineral raised.

It had sent notices to around 20 miners in August this year on the same charges. In the second phase, the government has picked up 42 more miners this month, including Aditya Birla Group company controlled Essel Mining, Tata Steel and state-run miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).

Nine private miners are likely to lose their mining leases in the state following a recent decision of the steel & mines department to cancel all applications for renewal of leases made between 1987 and 1994.

The department on Saturday had decided to bring such leases back to the fold of the state government against the backdrop of an ongoing probe into alleged large scale illegal mining activities in the state by the visiting M B Shah commission of enquiry.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday imposed a complete ban on mining activities in all the 90 mines in Goa as well as the transportation of iron and manganese ores till further orders.

A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking a court direction to stop illegal mining of iron and manganese ores in Goa.