Our History
V.M. Salgaocar e Irmao Ltda. was established in 1942 in Portuguese Goa by our late Founder Chairman, Mr. Vassudev M. Salgaocar. It was later renamed as V.M. Salgaocar & Bro. Pvt. Ltd. (VMSB), and went on to become India’s first vertically integrated mining operation spanning exploration, mechanised ore extraction, processing, multi-modal logistics and export capabilities.
Soon after the grant of mining concessions by the Portuguese Government in 1952, the Group exported its first consignment of 16,500 metric tons of iron ore to Nippon Steel Corporation, Japan. Eight years later, the first mechanical screening and loading plant was installed at the mines. The same year, VMSB achieved the export of 1 million tons of iron ore. To keep up with market demand and to promote operational efficiency, S S Sanjeevani, its first self-loading and discharging Transhipper vessel was commissioned in 1971 to load gearless vessels. The following year saw the Group export its first consignment of ore to POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Co.) which was also the first cargo to be used in their new blast furnace at Pohang, South Korea. The second screening plant was inaugurated in 1973 by Gen. T.J. Park, the first President of POSCO. By the following year, the Group had achieved 2 million tons of export, making it the leader in the state.
In 1981, VMSB completed the installation of a Beneficiation Plant to promote sustainable mining practices. 1982 saw the commissioning of transhipper M.V. Swatirani to compete with Australian and Brazilian supplies.
Since the demise of our Founder Chairman in 1984, the Group has been under the able stewardship of his son, Mr. Shivanand V. Salgaocar. The Group commenced exports to China in 2001 and by 2010 achieved its highest ever export of 5 million tons in a year. In 2006, VMSB commissioned the transhipper M.V. Goan Pride as a joint venture with V. S. Dempo & Co (now part of Vedanta Resources Limited). 2012 saw the commissioning of Vishal Hira, a self-loading vessel to enhance transhipping capacity.
2017 marked the international expansion of the group with the establishment of VMSB Singapore. The primary purpose was to further the Group’s international presence both on the trading and strategic investment side. The following year, a strategic investment was made into TNG Limited, Australia. TNG’s proprietary TIVAN® process can extract Vanadium pentoxide, Titanium dioxide and Iron oxide from the titanomagnetite concentrate, resulting in significant operational efficiencies and improvements.
In 2019, Prospect Mining Studio was launched to support startups of all stages as they build, pilot, and scale frontier technologies that will advance the natural resource and mining industries with a focus on sustainable and socially responsible solutions.
In 2022, VMSB launched Minception, a multi-disciplinary consulting platform transcending geographies and commodities, to provide integrated and practically implementable solutions to exploration, mining and mineral companies in optimizing their growth.
In 2023, a significant milestone was reached with the relaunch as Prospect Innovation, a global catalyst aimed at accelerating early-stage innovation within the mining and metals industry.
