Gold Deposits of India

Although India is by far the greatest importer of gold in the world it has a very poor gold mining industry. There are however, some gold mines that are active including the Kolar Goldfields in Karnataka, the Dona block in Andra Pradesh, the Bansawar district in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The Champion Reef Mine in the Kolar Gold Field of India

It has been estimated by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) that there are more then 20,000 metric tons of gold spread across several states of India causing the Indian government to askthere the GSI to explore for additional reserves that can be tapped in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

The Indian government is concerned over its dependence on imports of gold into the country where India has been the top importer of gold in the world for several years. This concern was increased by the recent economic downturn when the price of gold shot up to $1,000 per ounce in the international markets, and is recently traded for over $1,400 per ounce in US dollars.

This is prompted the Indian government to give the GSI three years in which to explore the possibilities of being able to tap the estimated 14,000 tonnes of gold they presently have which should be increased to 20,000 tonnes in the next three years. As well as gold the Indian government also wants the GSI to explore for diamonds.

The Hope Diamond originally from Golconda, India

There are several overseas companies that are in talks with the Indian government for gold mining and exploration including Indogold, Anglo-American Gold Mining, Monarch Gold Mining, De Beers India Ltd., Rio Tinto Exploration Ltd and BHP minerals.

At the present time the Indian government is using all the initiatives it has to expedite the efforts to unearth valuable minerals like gold and diamonds. Right now in India produces hardly 4/10 of 1% of the Golden consumes despite having about 9% of all the gold reserves in the world within its borders.

Under Indian law presently foreign companies rarely invest in India because they cannot sell the data they map and can only use it if they open the mines themselves. The new mining policy however, is expected to open the mining sector to foreign investment. Under the new rules that have been suggested to approvals for most minerals must be made of about a year or will be automatically referred to a tribunal.

At present international gold companies are looking to form joint ventures with gold exploration firms in India enabling them to launch new exploration projects. It is in southern India in the Deccan region where it's been assumed as a result of some surveying or largest deposits of gold might be found.