Precious Metals May Be Found In Goa
Goa, the countrys largest exporter of iron ore, could become a source of precious metals, including gold and silver, according to a study by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
The study revealed that Goas rocks are of the type that contain metals ranging from copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, the platinum group of elements, and rare earth elements.
There is every possibility, even probability, that the banded ferruginous rocks in Goa (similar to areas where gold has been found in Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka) also contain gold, said GSI Director T L Ramakrishna.
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A study of rocks from the Usgaon region in the state showed gold content. The GSI, which collected over a thousand samples from the region, worked on them using French software and learnt that one of the samples showed a gold potential of 1.5 gm per tonne.
Samples drawn from Bondla, a region better known as home to the states wildlife sanctuary, indicated the presence of 0.03 to 0.19 parts per million (ppm) of valuable platinum, a silvery coloured metal that does not react easily with other chemicals and is used in industry and for making jewellery.
GSI studies in Goa have thrown up new and newer horizons, Ramakrishna said, pointing out that a systematic geological mapping of the state had earlier led to the discovery of previously unnoticed bauxite reserves in the states huge laterite cover.
The GSI is also planning to conduct the geochemical mapping of the state, to prepare distribution maps of economically important commodities like the base metal sulphides, nickel, cobalt, arsenic, noble metals like gold and silver, the platinum group of minerals and rare earth elements like gallium, germanium and lithium, which are immensely useful in electronics, aviation and military fields.
Once released, the states geochemical map would help zero-in on targets for further exploration, Ramakrishna said. Such geochemical maps, also based on stream sediment samples, are popular in regions like China, Scandinavia and Western Europe, he said.
Ramakrishna said the GSI had now established that gold could be associated with banded ferruginous rocks. But Goas forest cover and wild life sanctuaries come in the way of mineral wealth inventory preparation, he said, pointing out that vast laterite cappings, the forest cover, and wild-life sanctuaries (including the states important Bondla sanctuary) blocked plans to prepare a mineral wealth inventory in parts of the state.
Earlier in this decade, plans for mining of bauxite near lush agricultural fields in North Goas Pernem district drew protests from villagers, led by law minister Ramakant Khalap who was part of the Goan opposition parties at the time. Goa currently exports about 15 million tonnes of iron ore each year, which is about 50 per cent of the countrys total annual iron ore exports.
But, environmentally, the state has already paid a heavy price for mining. Some 60-70 per cent of the mining lease areas fall under forested regions. Air and water pollution, degradation of land and forests and the dumping of rejects are some of the problems encountered in interior Goa, the heartland of mining.
The GSI also plans to collect samples from the huge dumps of iron ore rejects, currently lying around as troublesome wastes, and analyse them for noble metals. If found, it would indeed turn the heaps of waste into hills of wealth, officials said.