In Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, gold deposits of 3,000 tonne worth Rs 12 lakh crore were reportedly discovered this week.

The UP government’s Department of Geology and Mining confirmed on Friday that an estimated 3,000 tonne of gold reserves have been found in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district.

However, the Geological Survey of India on Saturday said there has been no discovery of gold deposits estimated to be around 3,000 tonne in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, as claimed by a district mining official.

The Sonbhadra gold deposits, reportedly, are almost five times India’s present gold reserves.

According to a district mining officer, Son Pahadi and Hardi areas of Sonbhadra hold these deposits of gold.

According to a Times of India report, the latest discovery of gold reserves in Sobhadra will make India No 2 in the world; behind only the United States which has the largest gold reserves of 8,134 tonne.

After the Department of Geology and Mining confirmed the news, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, “India will now have the world’s 2nd largest gold reserves.”

“The massive gold discovery in Sonebhadra will further catalyse growth of this beautiful aspirational district, bring positive change in the lives of the people and usher an era of transformation.”

THE GOLD AND SONBHADRA

Efforts to find gold reserves in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh began almost two decades ago – back in 1992-93 by the GSI.

The area of the hill where the gold was found is said to be 108 hectare.

The deposits in Son Pahadi are estimated to be around 2,943.26 tonne, while that at Hardi block are around 646.16 kg.

Some other minerals have also been found in Sonbhadra – East UP’s mineral-rich district.

A seven-member team was constituted for geo-tagging of mineral sites, and their report will be submitted to the Department of Mining, Lucknow by February 22. Sonbhadra District Mining Officer KK Rai told IANS that a team of Department of Geology and Mining and Geological Survey of India (GSI) is engaged in this task.

Sonbhadra District Mining Officer KK Rai said that work on the site started after 2005 and the report has just been received. It is estimated to hold about 3,000 tonnes of gold.

The GSI is conducting an aerial survey of the quarry area for which two helicopters have been deployed.

Rai said it is being assessed how much land comes under the revenue department and under the forest department so that the process of permission from the forest department for mining can begin.

The UP government has also expedited the process of leasing these mines.

For the mining, the process of geo-tagging has been started before the auction process. E-tendering will be done as soon as the demarcation work is completed.

Survey is being conducted in the Kudri hill region with the help of aeromagnetic system through helicopter | Photo from IANS

GOLD RESERVES: INDIA ON NO 2?

In terms of individual countries and their gold reserves, India actually ranks ninth since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) occupies the third position after the US and Germany, according to a The Hindu report. According to the latest release by the World Gold Council, US leads the country list with total gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonne followed by Germany with 3,366.8 tonne.

While the IMF is ranked third with a holding of 2,451.8 tonne, it is followed by countries such as Italy (2,451.8 tonnes), France (2,436.1 tonnes), Russia (2,219.2 tonnes), China (1,936.5 tonnes), Switzerland (1,040 tonnes) and Japan (765.2 tonnes) before India at the 10th spot, the report said.

But, if the latest estimates hold true, India would have the second-highest amount of gold reserves in the world after the US – that’s pretty close to being ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ again.

The British reportedly were the first to initiate the process of finding gold reserves in Sonbhadra region, which has been in the news for being a Naxalism-affected area.

OTHER MINERALS FOUND IN SONBHADRA

There is also a strong possibility of presence of other precious minerals, including uranium, in the hills of Sonbhadra region – Naxalism-affected area.

Geophysical survey is underway by helicopter in many parts of Sonbhadra district. Electromagnetic and spectrometer devices are being used in the survey.

Part of these instruments hang under the helicopter which conducts a flying survey at an altitude of 60-80 metre above the ground surface.

The Geological Survey of India is conducting survey in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra to look for uranium, just days after around 3,000 tonnes of gold reserves were found here, officials said on Saturday, according to an IANS report.

The survey is being conducted in the Kudri hill region.

“Tonnes of uranium are expected to be found in the Kudri hill region. The GSI team has dug the hill at three locations for uranium samples,” an official involved in the survey was quoted by IANS as saying.

“Efforts are on to measure the exact depth of uranium reserves. A team of officials of the Department of Atomic Energy is engaged in the task,” the official said.

“The GSI team has been working here for a long time. It can’t be said now how much uranium can be found… things would be clear only after completion of the survey,” senior mining officer KK Rai said.

Prof Dhruvsen of the department of Geology in Lucknow University said, “Uranium is found in the hills of Sonbhadra. But, it is also important to know its composition. If uranium is found in a large quantity, it will make the country very strong.”

A large stock of gold has been found in Sonbhadra, which is counted in the backward districts of Uttar Prades | Photo from IANS

SONBHADRA AND GOLD

The estimated 3,000 tonnes of gold reserves reportedly found in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, a district counted among the most backward districts of the country, is valued at around Rs 12 lakh crore.

Sonbhadra – the second largest district of Uttar Pradesh – is the only district in the country which shares its borders with four states — Madhya Pradesh to the west, Chhattishgarh to the south, Jharkhand to the south-east and Bihar to the east.

Work on finding gold reserves in Sonbhadra was started almost 20 years ago by the Geological Survey of India and now the auctioning of these blocks through e-tendering would start soon.

NO DISCOVERY OF AROUND 3000 TONNE GOLD DEPOSITS IN SONBHADRA: GSI

The Geological Survey of India on Saturday said there has been no discovery of gold deposits estimated to be around 3,000 tonne in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, as claimed by a district mining official.

“Such data was not given by anybody from GSI…. GSI has not estimated such kind of vast resource of gold deposits in Sonbhadra district,” GSI Director General (DG) M Sridhar told PTI in Kolkata this evening.

“We share our findings regarding any resources of ore after conducting survey with the state units…. We [GSI, Northern Region] had carried out work in that region in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. The report was shared with UP DGM for information and further necessary action,” he said.

The exploration works of the GSI for gold was not satisfactory and the results were not encouraging to come up with major resources for gold in Sonbhadra district, he added.

Sonbhadra district mining officer KK Rai had said on Friday that the gold deposits were found in Son Pahadi and Hardi areas of the district.

The deposits in Son Pahadi are estimated to be around 2,943.26 tonne, while that at Hardi block are around 646.16 kg, the official said.

Rejecting the claim, Sridhar said that in its report after exploration in the district “the GSI has estimated a probable category resource of 52,806.25 tonnes of ore with 3.03 gram per tonne gold [average grade] for a strike length of 170m in Sub- Block-H, Son Pahadi of Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh”.

“The mineralised zone having an average grade of 3.03 gram per tonne of gold is tentative in nature and the total gold which can be extracted from the total resource of 52,806.25 tonnes of ore is approximately 160 kg and not 3,350 tonne as mentioned in the media,” the DG clarified.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)

***The story has been updated with statements of the Geological Survey of India that it was not a party to the discovery*** | READ