Rubbishing the news reports stating availability of around 3000 tonnes of gold in the Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) on Saturday claimed that it is not a party to the information published in the media and has not estimated such vast reserves of gold deposits in the area.

In a notification released by the GSI, it said that the GSI Northern region had carried out several explorations to determine reserves of gold but the results were not encouraging that suggested major resources for gold in Sonbhadra, UP.

As per GSI study,the probable conservative figure of gold which can be unearthed is estimated to be around 160 kgs and not 3350 tonnes as mentioned in media reports. For more details, read the GSI press release below!#GSI #UncoveringIndia #Sonbhadra #UttarPradesh #Gold pic.twitter.com/KvY5ffZsGh — Geological Survey of India (@GeologyIndia) February 22, 2020

“The exploration was carried in the Field Season 1998-99 & 1999-2000 and the report has been handed over the DGM UP for further and necessary action. In the report, the GSI has estimated a probable category resource of 52806.25 tonnes of Ore with 3.03 grams per tonne gold (average grade) for a strike length of 170m in Sub-Block-H, Sonapahari area, Sonbhadra district, UP,” the notification issued by Geological Survey of India said.

Director General of Geological Survey of India, M. Shridhar told media, “Such data was not given by anybody from GSI. GSI has not estimated such kind of vast resource of gold deposits in Sonbhadra district”.

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“We share our findings regarding any resources of ore after conducting survey with the state units…. We (GSI, Northern Region) had carried out work in that region in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. The report was shared with UP DGM for information and further necessary action,” he added.

Furthermore, it mentioned that the mineralised zone having an average grade of 3.03 grams per tonne of gold is tentative in nature and the total amount of gold that can be extracted from the total reserve of 52806.25 tonnes of ore is approximately about 160 Kg and not 3350 tonnes as mentioned in the reports.

A joint press conference as called by DGM UP has also been organised by the GSI and DGM Uttar Pradesh to issue a clarification regarding the misleading figures of gold reserves found in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra.

Earlier, many media outlets published reports stating that a massive 3000 tonnes of gold reserves had been discovered by the GSI in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. Media reports had quoted district mining officials of UP for that number.