Before the government e-auctions mineral blocks, a time has come for them to check whether the Goan soil contains iron ore or gold. It is never smart to sell gold at the price of iron, is it? Dr Nandkumar Kamat for years has been claiming that the mineral soil in Goa contains fragments of gold. In fact, he had even shown the process of dissolution of gold in the laboratory. Despite presenting the reports backed with years of research to the government, the government kept mum for the reasons best known only to them.
It was revealed recently during a hearing of the High Court that mineral soil in Pisurlem contains iron as well as gold, which reaffirms Kamat’s claims. Dr Kamat had famously announced 8-9 years back that the minerals in the State contain gold. Not just from soil, he had also shown the demo of separating gold from the sand. The politicians did not take his experiments that seriously. The neighbouring district of Sindhudurg exports minerals and a petition was filed in the Mumbai High Court that gold is imported as iron. The petitioner had also attached scientific reports claiming that the Sindhudurg’s soil contains gold. Needless to say that if the soil from Sindhudurg can contain gold then it would be no different for the Goan soil. The area of Sindhudurg and Goa to the coastal stretch of Karnataka is made up of similar rocks. The exploration of gold in the Goan soil is not new.
The first mention of mineral deposits in Goan soil traces back to the 16th century. A Dutch traveller named John H V Linshodan had written that Goan soil contains iron ore. According to scientists, there has been mentions of Goan soil containing copper as well as gold. The rate for iron ore at the time was merely Rs 30 per tonne. So it may be gold that time had little or no demand which is why attempts to separate gold from the soil must not have been made.
During Portuguese rule, it was mandatory to first examine the minerals in government laboratories before being exported. The permit for the ship to leave the port was given only after it was confirmed that the mineral soil contains iron ore and nothing else. This system slowly died down after Goa’s Liberation. Companies themselves claiming it to be iron ore and the government considering it to be a proven standard became the new norm. Therefore, the question whether the minerals exported till date contained only iron or something as valuable as gold remains unanswered.
The Supreme Court through its order had made it clear that the mineral deposits stored across the state belong rightfully to the state government. Only thing the government owes to companies is the amount of cost it took to mine the ore which has been decided by the court itself. If the grains of gold are really found in the Goan soil, then this would prove to be a jackpot for the government. Given the similarities between Sindhudurg and Goa, it would not take much for the government to think over it seriously. The people claiming that fragments of platinum and gold are hidden in Sindhudurg’s soil is not ordinary.
In 1980 a Kolhapur-based expert with the name R S Hazare who was working in the government services had brought it to notice that Sindhudurg’s land contains some valuable metals. In the last 30 years, world renowned geologist Dr M K Prabhu with Shivaji University’s Geology Department and now Dr Kamat has carried out the research in this regard. Their conclusions too back up Hazare’s claims. The government either ignored the claims of scientists or gave the excuse of extracting gold from the ground not feasible financially. R S Hazare who was a chemist in the government’s Mining department during the 1980s, had studied samples of soil from Sindhudurg’s Redi region. He found that enough ore of gold and platinum could be extracted from the ground and he followed it up with the government.
Let alone taking notice of his new findings, the government suspended him from service. The then vice-chancellor of Shivaji University Dr M G Takwale, University’s Geology Department head Dr R R Patil along with R S Hazare had visited the regions of Redi and Kalane on December 13, 2002 to take samples of the soil. After examining the samples it was proved that the soil in Redi had 67 gram per tonne and Kalane had 20 gram per tonne of gold and platinum. The report had also mentioned that since the samples from Kalane were taken only from the surface, there is a possibility of the amount of valuable metals going up to 100 grams per tonne in the deeper ground. Hence, the government should give it enough thought instead of being careless by demeaning the years-long research.
