The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reopening of gold-bearing reef at Hutti mines planned

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Tuesday, Apr 08, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Reopening of gold-bearing reef at Hutti mines planned

S. Rajendran

The gold mines, started in 1902, comprises nine main reefs

Reef was shut down because of poor gold recovery
Company earned profit of Rs. 132 crore in the last financial year

Bangalore: The State-run Hutti Gold Mines Company Limited has embarked on an ambitious programme to reopen a gold-bearing reef at Hutti in Raichur district, which was shut down over 70 years ago, during the British rule, following what was then termed poor gold recovery. Should this plan succeed, the Hutti gold mines, started in 1902, will have an extended life of another 100 years or more.

While a gold recovery rate of four gm from every tonne of gold bearing ore is now regarded as economical, the British operated Hutti mines, then owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad, was shut down after the recovery rate dropped to less than 20 gm per tonne.

Gold mining authorities the world over consider a recovery of more than 12 gm as bonanza and this has prompted the authorities to try and attempt to reopen the first reef.

The Hutti gold mines comprises nine main reefs. The one that was shut down in the 1940s is considered one of the best of the nine reefs.

Gold mining experts have suggested the reopening of the first main reef.

Sources in the State Government told The Hindu that a high-level technical committee has been constituted to go into various aspects connected with reopening the reef.

The committee has been given six months to prepare a comprehensive report. It is mentioned that certain tests carried out recently have indicated that the reef still has a huge quantity of rich gold bearing ore and the recovery could therefore be of a very high order although it may not be around 20 gm. The present recovery rate in the other reefs of the Hutti gold mines is five to eight gm.

The first main reef is nearly 800 metres long, around 30 metres wide and has been mined by the British up to a depth of around 2,000 feet. The mine is now full of water and the main problem faced by the authorities is to obtain technical expertise in draining out the water.

Rakesh Singh, managing director of the Hutti Gold Mines Company Limited, who refused to divulge information on the plans to reopen the first main reef told The Hindu that the company had expansion plans and this included opening new gold bearing mines. The performance of the company in the last financial year had been rated good and it earned a profit of Rs. 132 crore. The total gold production last year was 2.808 tonnes and the increase in gold prices in recent months had also served the company well.

The company is also partly owned by 60 select share-holders. While 98.88 per cent of the shares are held by the State Government, the remaining are with the share-holders. The present gold recovery rate at Hutti is 5.06 gm per tonne and anything above four gm is rated as good while the normal target is set at six gm.

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