Panaji, Sep 21 (IANS): Less than a week after the Justice M.B. Shah Commission probing illegal mining visited the controversial sites in Goa, a body of ore exporters Wednesday said they were not responsible for ore exported by firms not registered with them.

Ore exported from Goa was bracketed under two heads - 'classified' and 'unclassified', the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association said in an unsigned press statement.

"It is pertinent to note that the quantity listed under 'unclassified' merely lists the amount which has been exported by parties who do not register with the association," the statement read.

"The data listed under the 'unclassified' header has been obtained from Mormugao and Panaji ports and relates to exporters from whom the association neither has the mandate nor the means to establish the source of the ore," it further reads.

Nearly 5 million tonnes of allegedly illegally extracted iron ore was exported from the Panaji minor port this year, according to the chairperson of Goa's Mormugao Port Trust P. Mara Pandiyan.

The Indian Administrative Service officer who oversees the export of nearly 50 million tonnes of iron ore from this port, in a letter written to the state Chief Secretary Sanjiv Srivastava, also hinted that the lack of vigilance and the possible connivance with state government authorities could have facilitated the export of illegal ore.