A few months after the state of Chhatisgarh conducted an auction for Baghmara (Sonakhan) gold mine, and the government announced plans to put a diamond mine in Madhya Pradesh on the block, officials of Jharkhand state have confirmed to the media that they will be floating tenders for gold mining in two blocks within the state in the next few weeks.

According to the reports, the blocks to be auctioned are Pahardia block in West Singhbum district and Parasi block in Ranchi district. The former is reported to have an estimated reserve of 1.16 million tonnes of gold ore at 2.12 grams per tonne, while the latter has an estimated gold reserve of 7.47 million tonnes at the rate of 0.5 grams per tonne and 3.71 million tonnes at 1 gram per tonne.

The move to auction these mineral resources follows a government decision last year to begin the process of auctioning 43 different blocks related across 12 states that hold a variety of mineral ores. At a recent meeting, the government reportedly decided to fast track the process. It is reported to have set up an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) to facilitate speedy completion of post-auction clearances and approvals.

In a separate development, it is also reported that moves are afoot to explore the possibility of restartng India’s oldest gold mine in the Kolar district of Karnataka, where gold had been mined for over 100 years, before falling prices forced closure in 2001.