Gold reserves detected in three districts of Odisha: Steel and Mines Minister

Bhubaneswar: With Odisha having a vast reservoir of mineral wealth, gold reserves have now been detected in three districts of the State, informed Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik here on Monday. Sharing the information in response to a query by Dhenkanal MLA Sudhir Kumar Samal during the ongoing budget session of the Assembly, Mallik said presence of the precious metal was detected in Deogarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha following surveys by the Directorate of Mines and Geology and Geological Survey of India (GSI).

“The State Mines and Geology Directorate through a preliminary survey have found gold reserves at various places in Deogarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts. Details of the discovery have been furnished in Annexure-A,” he said.

In Mayurbhanj, Jashipur, Saraguda, Ruansi, Idelkucha, Badampahar and Suleipat (Dhusura hill) were found to have reserves of gold. In Idellucha-Maredihi-Badampahar area, the survey found 0.1-2.6 gram gold per 1 tonne of Auriferous lode (rocks containing the metal). In Suleipat area, the State Mines and Geology Directorate had detected  0.1 – 0.8 gram gold per 1 tonne of rock spread across 2.3 km in conglomerate horizon of Dhusura hill in 1970-71.

Similarly, in Deogarh district’s Adas, 1685 kg gold was detected in copper ore. Along with gold, 6.67 million tonne copper, 0.638 million tonne silver and 0.10 million tonne nickel were found in the area.

In Keonjhar, areas like Gopur, Gajipur, Kusakala, Adal and Saleikana, Dimirimundaand Karadanga of Telkoi were found to be in possession of the precious metal reserves. Between 1977-1983, geologists found 1 gram gold per tonne in two quartz vein in Telkoi tehsil of the district. In Gopur, the 60 metre long and 1 metre wide quartz vein contained 2.5-10 gram gold per tonne.