Media reports had claimed over 3,000-tonne gold deposit was found in UP’s Sonbhadra district. (File Photo/PTI)

Sonbhadra gold mine discovery news: A day after reports claimed huge gold deposits being discovered in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) on Saturday denied any such discovery. The GSI said no discovery of any over 3,000-tonne gold deposit has been made in the state as claimed in various media reports.

“Such data was not given by anybody from GSI…. GSI has not estimated such kind of vast resource of gold deposits in Sonbhadra district,” news agency PTI quoted GSI Director General (DG) M Sridhar, as saying.

Sridhar added that exploration work in Sonbhadra failed to yield desired results. He said exploration and research work have revealed that approximately 160 kg of gold could be found beneath beneath the earth in the area.

“The mineralised zone having an average grade of 3.03 grams per tonne of gold is tentative in nature and the total gold which can be extracted from the total resource of 52,806.25 tonnes of ore is approximately 160 kg and not 3,350 tonnes as mentioned in the media,” Sridhar said.

Sonbhadra district mining officer K K Rai’s statement on Friday that the gold deposits were found in Son Pahadi and Hardi areas of the district had triggered a frenzy in the media with some reports even claiming that the gold deposit could be around 3,000 tonnes and worth Rs 12 lakh crore.

Reports also claimed that after gold discovery, officials are exploring the possibility of Uranium in Sonbhadra which is one of 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh and also one of the backward districts in the country.