Govt plans to invite bids to extract gold from dumps at Kolar mines

The central government plans to invite bids to extract gold from 50 million tonnes of processed ore in a cluster of colonial-era mines in Karnataka, a senior government official with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The Kolar fields, located about 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Bengaluru, are among the country's oldest gold mines.

The Kolar mines, closed more than 20 years ago, held gold deposits worth around $2.1 billion, and India is now keen to take advantage of new technology that can extract gold from even the leftovers of ore that was processed in the past.

Other than gold,