A senior official said on Saturday that the Bihar government has decided to grant permission for exploration of the country's largest gold reserve in Jamui district. According to the Geological Survey of India GSI survey, around 222.88 million tonnes of gold reserve, including 37.6 tonnes of mineral-rich ore, are present in Jamui district.
The state Mines and Geology Department is in consultation with agencies engaged in exploration, including GSI and the National Mineral Development Corporation NMDC, which are involved in exploration of gold reserves in Jamui.
The consultation process started after analyzing the GSI findings which indicated the presence of gold in areas such as Karmatia, Jhajha and Sono in Jamui district. Additional Chief Secretary cum Mines Commissioner Harjot Kaur Bamhrah told PTI.
She said that the state government is likely to sign an MoU with a central agency or agencies for G 3 preliminary stage exploration within a month.
General exploration can also be carried out in certain areas, according to Bamhrah.
Last year, the Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi informed the Lok Sabha that Bihar holds the highest share of India's gold reserves.
He said that Bihar has 222.885 million tonnes of gold, which is 44 per cent of the total gold reserves in the country.
The total resources of primary gold ore in the country were 1.4, according to the National Mineral Inventory. In 2015, Bihar is estimated to have 501.83 million tons of gold metal with 654.74 tons of gold metal and has 222.885 million tonnes 44 per cent of which is 37.6 tons of metal, Joshi said.