Bihar Government Allows Exploration of Country's Largest Gold Reserves in Jamui district

• 30 May 2022

Why in News?

• On May 28, 2022, Bihar Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Mines Commissioner Harjot Kaur Babra said that the Bihar government has decided to give permission for exploration of the country's largest gold reserve in Jamui district.

Key Points

• Harjot Kaur Babra said that the state mines and geology department is in consultation with the agencies engaged in the investigation including GSI and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) to explore the gold reserves in Jamui.
• He said the consultation process began after analysing the findings of GSI, which indicated the presence of gold in areas like Karmatia, Jhajha and Sono in Jamui district.
• According to the Geological Survey of India (GSI), jamui district has a reserve of about 222.88 million tonnes of gold, including 37.6 tonnes of mineralized ore.
• The state government is likely to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a central agency or agencies for the discovery of the G3 (preliminary) phase within a month. In some areas, G2 (general) exploration can also be carried out.
• Union Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi had told the Lok Sabha last year that Bihar has the largest share in India's gold reserves. In a written reply, he had said that Bihar has 222.885 million tonnes of gold metal, which is 44% of the country's total gold reserves.
• According to the National Mineral Inventory, the total resources of primary gold ore in the country as on 1.4.2015 are estimated to be 501.83 million tonnes with 654.74 tonnes of gold metal and of this 222.885 million tonnes is present in Bihar.