BHUBANESWAR: Accounting for 98 per cent (pc) of the country’s chromite deposits, Odisha is in the limelight again for its reserves of high-valued metal and minerals. And this time it is gold. Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik on Monday informed the state Assembly that three gold reserves have been found in three districts in the state.
Responding to a starred question, the minister said the surveys of the Directorate of Mines and Geological Survey Of India (GSI) revealed the presence of gold reserves in the Deogarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts. As per the statement laid in the House, the gold deposits have been found in the Adas area Deogarh, seven places each in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts.
An estimated 1,685 kg of gold ore has been detected by the GSI experts along with copper in the Adas area. A survey by the directorate of mines and geology found gold reserves in Gopur, Gajipur, Kusakala, Adal and Saleikana, Dimirimunda and Karadanga areas in Keonjhar. The geologists had detected one gram of gold per tonne ore in two quartz veins in the Telkoi tehsil area during a survey in 1989-96.
According to preliminary estimation, the team had detected 2.5 gm to 10 gm of gold per one-tonne ore in a quartz vein of 60 metre long and one metre wide in the Gopur area.