Mining Secretary reviews progress at lithium site in Reasi district

Srinagar, April 15

Mining Secretary Amit Sharma on Saturday visited a lithium reserves site located in the Salal-Haimna area of Reasi district and held a review regarding the progress made in this regard by the district administration.

He was accompanied by Director (Geology and Mining) OP Bhagat, Joint Director, Jammu, HL Langeh, District Mineral Officer, Reasi, Shafiq Ahmed, the tehsildar, sarpanches and prominent citizens of the area.

During the site visit, the officers informed that the demarcation work on the lithium reserves site had been completed a few days ago which is spread in an area of around 3 sq km. Accordingly, the Revenue Department has also completed the task of creation of lists of habitations, plantations and others assets falling within these demarcated limits, he said. The public of the area requested the Secretary to ensure that fair compensation was paid to the persons whose assets were coming within the zone of the lithium reserves.

The Secretary assured that all care and due diligence shall be shown by the authorities concerned, including the DC, Reasi, and her team for ensuring it.

Amit Sharma mentioned that the UT administration was looking forward to taking next steps for lithium extraction in Reasi at the earliest.

He said the process had already been initiated towards appointing a transaction adviser and auction the platform to carry forward the extraction process for this potentially rich reserves of lithium to the tune of 5.9 million tonnes, the second highest in the world.