PANAJI: Acceding to instructions of the Goa State Pollution Control Board, mining companies engaged in the extraction of iron ore have started presenting bank guarantees with their applications seeking consent to operate. Two companies seeking consent approached the board office with bank guarantees on Thursday. One of them could be Vedanta as the company’s permission to operate in four leases located in Bicholim, Codli, Sankhali and Kolamba (Sanguem) ends on May 19. A senior GSPCB official said that more bank guarantees are expected from companies as the permission to operate has expired for several of the 39 leases, or is due for renewal shortly. Bank guarantee from mining companies seeking consent is a first-time instruction of the pollution board and it has not found favour with the mining industry. Over the past week, companies have…