No discovery of around 3000-tonne gold deposits in UP's Sonbhadra: GSI

The Geological Survey of India on Saturday said it had carried out exploration work for gold in Sonbhadra district of UP in the past but the results were not encouraging to come up with major resources for gold.

The country's top exploration company was reacting to media reports of a substantial gold reserves of over 3,300 tonnes in the district.

GSI said it was "not party to the news reports which have appeared in the media" and stated that while it had conducted exploration in the area, it had "not estimated such vast reserves of gold in Sonbhadra district."

"The mineralized zone having an average grade of 3.03 gms of gold per tonne is tentative in nature and the total gold that can be extracted from the resource of 52,806.25 tonnes of ore is approximately 160 kgs not 3,350 tonnes as reported by the media," GSI Director General M Sridhar said in Kolkata on Saturday

The exploration was done by GSI Northern region in the Field Season 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and the report handed over to the DG Mines of the state. However, GSI said it had estimated a probable category resource of 52,806.25 tonnes of ore with 3.03 gm of gold per tonne which is rated as an average find at a strike length of 170 m in Sonpahari area of Sonbhadra.