Saturday, February 22, 2020

STRUCK GOLD
Geological Survey of India denies reports about discovery of 3,000 tonne gold deposits in UP

The earlier claim had been made by Sonbhadra district mining officer KK Rai.

Representative photo. | Michael Dalder/Reuters

The Geological Survey of India on Saturday denied news reports that around 3,000 tonnes of gold deposits had been discovered in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. The earlier claim had been made by district mining officer KK Rai.

“Such data was not given by anybody from GSI,” Director General M Sridhar told PTI hours after Rai’s claim. “GSI has not estimated such kind of vast resource of gold deposits in Sonbhadra district.”

Sridhar said the organisation shares its findings about any resources with state units after conducting its surveys. The northern wing of the GSI had carried out the work in the region between 1998 and 2000 and had shared its report with the local authorities for further action, he said. In that report, the GSI estimated around 160 kg of gold in the district, he said.

If the gold deposits were around 3,000 tonnes indeed, they would be almost five times India’s current reserve and the country would end up having the highest gold reserve after the United States. Rai had claimed that the deposits, worth Rs 12 lakh crore, were found in the district’s Son Pahadi and Hardi areas.

UP: 3,000-tonne gold deposits found in Sonbhadra – almost five times India’s current reserve

The deposits, worth Rs 12 lakh crore, were unearthed by the Geological Survey of India in the district’s Son Pahadi and Hardi areas.

Representative image. | Joel Saget/AFP

The Geological Survey of India has discovered gold deposits of around 3,000 tonnes in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district – almost five times India’s current reserve, PTI reported on Friday. The deposits – worth Rs 12 lakh crore – were found in the district’s Son Pahadi and Hardi areas, said district Mining Officer KK Rai.

The work on finding gold in Sonbhadra started in 1992-’93, Rai said. The deposits in Son Pahadi is estimated to be around 2,943.26 tonnes, while the one at Hardi is around 646.16 kg. If these estimates turn out to be true, India will have the highest gold reserve after the United States. According to the World Gold Council, the US has 8,133.5 tonnes of gold, followed by Germany with 3,366 tonnes, and the International Monetary Fund with 2,814 tonnes.

The geology and mining department of the state government has sent a team to the district to map and geo-tag the area. The exercise is expected to be completed by Saturday, The Times of India reported. “After the completion of mapping, we will submit the report to the directorate for further action, like auctioning of gold blocks for mining,” Rai told the newspaper.

District Magistrate S Rajalingam said the geological survey and the directorate of geology and mining had sought permission to survey the area. “The team will submit the report to the directorate for further action,” he added.

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