Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led government has decided to accord permission for exploration of the “country’s largest” gold reserve in the state’s Jamui district, Additional Chief Secretary cum Mines Commissioner Harjot Kaur Bamhrah on Saturday said. “The state Mines and Geology Department is in consultation with agencies engaged in exploration, including the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), for exploration of gold reserves in Jamui,” PTI quoted the senior official as saying.
She added the consultation process started after analysing the GSI findings, which indicated the presence of gold in areas such as Karmatia, Jhajha and Sono in Bihar's Jamui district.
Bamhrah further said the Bihar government is likely to sign an MoU with a central agency or agencies for G3 (preliminary) stage exploration within a month’s time.
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She added that G2 (general) exploration can also be carried out in certain areas.
The Additional Chief Secretary cum Mines Commissioner’s remarks come as around 222.88 million tonnes of gold reserve, including 37.6 tonnes of mineral-rich ore, are present in Jamui district according to a survey done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
Earlier last year, Union Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi had informed the Lok Sabha that Bihar holds the highest share of the country’s gold reserves.
Joshi had said that the state has 222.885 million tonnes of gold metal, which amounts to 44 percent of the total gold reserves in the country.
“As per the National Mineral Inventory, the total resources of primary gold ore in the country as on 1.4.2015 are estimated at 501.83 million tonnes with 654.74 tonnes of gold metal and out of this, Bihar is endowed with 222.885 million tonnes (44 percent) of ore containing 37.6 tonnes of metal,” he said in a written reply.