State government to auction goldmines in Sonbhadra areasGold reserves found in Naxal-hit UP dist

Tribune News Service

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Lucknow, February 21

One of the most backward districts of the country, Sonbhadra is reinventing itself as one of the most resource-rich places. As per reports of the Geological Survey of India and state’s Directorate of Geology and Mining, the estimated gold at Son Pahadi and in Hardi village area of the district is said to be around 3,000 tonne.

In a windfall of sorts, the Uttar Pradesh Government is preparing to soon auction a large amount of gold reserve found in the backward Naxal-hit district.

The Yogi government has initiated the process to allocate blocks where gold has been located. A large reserve of gold has been found at Hardi village in the Kone region and Son Pahadi in the Mahuli region.

The government has constituted a seven-member team for the auctioning of these blocks through the e-tendering process. The team will geo-tag the entire region and submit its report to the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Lucknow, by February 22.

Accordingly, an aerial survey is being conducted in the area by the GSI with the help of helicopters to assess how much of this mineral-rich land is under the revenue department and how much is under the control of the Department of Forest.

As per the official letter of the Directorate, 2,943.26 tonne gold reserve is said to be at Son Pahadi, while 646.15-kg gold is in Hardi block. As per the World Gold Council, India currently has 626 tonne gold reserves. The new reserves are almost five times that amount and estimated at Rs 12 lakh crore.

The work for finding gold reserves in Sonbhadra started in 1992-93 after the Central Geological Survey of India took over.