Vedanta sells 1.6 MT of iron ore from Goa in January-March

New Delhi: Metals and mining group Vedanta today said the Goan iron ore arm reported sales of 1.6 million tonnes (MT) during January-March quarter of the last fiscal.

The firm also clocked a production of 1.9 MT during the reported quarter of the last fiscal, even as the production was impacted due to delay in transportation rate negotiations with the truckers, it said in a regulatory filing.

The total sale of 1.6 MT included 0.8 MT of traded ore purchased from the e-auctions. In Karnataka, production was 0.9 million tonnes and sales were 1 MT during the quarter, it added.

The company, which has been allowed to mine 5.5 MT of iron ore from Goa said: "We are engaged with the respective state governments for enhancing mining cap in Goa and Karnataka."

For the entire fiscal, Vedanta said production at Goa was 2.2 MT and sales were 2.2 MT, including 1.4 MT of traded ore purchased from the e-auctions.

In Karnataka, production was 3 MT, through a combination of production of 2.15 MT and opening crude ore inventory of 0.8 MT, the firm said.

Production of pig iron ramped up from 6,10,800 tonnes last year to a record production of 6,54,400 tonnes during the year, it added.

On Zinc, the firm said mined metal production in Q4 was 1,88,500 tonnes, 30 percent lower compared with January-March of the previous fiscal.

"Decrease was on account of lower production primarily from Rampura Agucha open pit as per the mining plan, which was partially offset by significantly higher production from all the underground mines especially Sindesar Khurd and Kayad mines resulting in higher lead and silver volumes," it said.

Refined Zinc metal production during the quarter was 29 per cent lower year-on-year.

Integrated lead and silver metal production during the quarter increased by 16 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively, as against corresponding quarter primarily due to higher volumes from the Sindesar Khurd mine, Vedanta said.