The Karnataka government on Thursday cleared a proposal of the Centre for reviving gold mining and auctioning of 13 tailing dumps spread over 1,003.4 acres at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) by the Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML).
The mines located at KGF are owned by BGML. As much as 33 million tonnes of tailing dumps (extraction waste) is estimated to be lying at the 13 tailing dumps at KGF. It is estimated that one tonne of dump yields one gram of gold on processing.
A Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cleared the proposal submitted to the State government by the Centre under column 17 of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, 1957, seeking the State’s consent for reviving gold mining at KGF.
BGML, a PSU, was established in 1972, under the Department of Mines with its office at KGF. BGML has become economically unviable and operations were closed in 2001 following the order of the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. In 2013, the Supreme Court provided gave Centre the permission to float a global tender. In 2015, the Centre decided to revive old mines, including BGML, to boost the domestic production of gold.
Briefing the Cabinet decisions, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil said that reviving gold mining would provide jobs to a large number of people at KGF.
In 2020, the Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd, an entity of the Centre, commenced exploration of natural minerals on the land belonging to the BGML. The drilling was started at BGML lands to identify non-mineral areas and handover the same land to the Karnataka government for the proposal seeking developing the industrial park spreading over 3,000 acres.
After a meeting with the then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on August 28, 2020, the then Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi had said the Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd, would identify areas that have not been explored for natural minerals. If after the survey, the land parcel found not to possess any minerals, it would be handed over to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) with necessary approvals to set up the industrial park, it was said.
