Over 3,000 Tonnes Of Gold Reserves Found In Uttar Pradesh

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has discovered gold deposits in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, estimated to be around 3,000 tonnes and worth Rs 12 lakh crore. This is almost five times India's current reserve of the precious metal, a PTI report said.

Approximately 2,943.25 tonnes of gold deposits were found in Son Pahadi area and almost 646.15 tonnes at the Hardi field. India's current gold reserve is around 626 tonnes, as per the World Gold Council.

District mining officer K K Rai said on Friday told reporters that the work on finding gold reserves in Sonbhadra was started almost two decades back in 1992-93 by the Geological Survey of India. The government will start auctioning of these blocks through e-tendering after necessary approvals are granted by various departments.

He added that besides gold, some other minerals have also been found in the area. The geology and mining department is in the process of geo-tagging the areas spread across villages for prospective mining.

Officials are also looking at exploring the possibility of unearthing other rare minerals like uranium in the area.

The discovery of these mines are expected to help increase UP's state revenue and provide labour to the locals in the district and surrounding areas.

So far, the country's noteworthy gold deposits have been found in Karnataka's Kolar region, which was run by Bharat Gold Mines Ltd and shut down in 2001, after operations become commercially non-viable.