KOLAR GOLD FIELDS: Two-and-a-half years and counting. That’s the long, agonising wait for thousands of families of this mining town, known by its moniker, ‘Little England,’ for revival of the 135 year-old gold mines following an order passed by the Supreme Court in July 2013. Their wait, however, could get longer.
For, the Union government is yet to release a global tender which would help resume mining operations through a two step process. First, assess the value of assets of Bharat Gold Mines (BGM), and then make a counter offer to BGM Employees, Supervisors & Officers United Forum and BGM All Employees Co-operative Society Ltd which would identify investors to support the unique initiative of officers and employees to restart the mines.
The global tender has been pending since 2008 though the company court of high court of Karnataka and the apex court ordered that it be made public in July 2009 and July 2013 respectively. “If the government had acted quickly, we could have produced gold worth Rs 500 crores in two years. Many investors are ready to support us with about Rs 100 crores to Rs 150 crores required to reopen the mines,” Mr K.M. Divakaran, president of the co-operative society, who met Union minister for steel and mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, in New Delhi on December 16 to plead for resumption of mining in KGF, told Deccan Chronicle.
Mr Divakaran, who fought a 12-year battle to stop liquidation of BGM, however, has to overcome a new hurdle as the ministry of steel and mines has tossed the issue of renewal of mining lease to the state government, a prerequisite for making the global tender public. “I have written to Mr Tomar that as BGML is a captive mine, the mining lease of BGML is automatically deemed extended till March 31, 2030 under the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act 2015. The question of awaiting a response from the state government is unwarranted and is delaying the release of the tender. These two governments are wasting time, exchanging letters on issues like the mining lease, royalty to be paid to the state government, and unpaid electricity bills rather than care about thousands of families which are living in penury after closure of BGML in 2001. Sooner than later, we will be forced to go back to the high court and Supreme Court because their judgments have not been put into effect,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Dass Chinnasavari, vice-president of KGF CMC, has offered an alternative solution to breath life into the mining town: squeeze out gold from several million tonnes of tailings (residue of crushed quartz rocks containing the yellow metal, known in local parlance as ‘Cyanide dumps’) that surround KGF. “The cost of excavation (Rs 500 for each gram) was more than the cost of gold (Rs 300 a gram), and therefore the Union government took a decision to close BGML in 2001. Now, gold costs about Rs 3,000 a gram. Our estimate is that gold worth Rs 25,000 crores could be recovered from 31 million tons of tailings instead of inviting companies to extract gold through open-cast mines. With these funds, the government should be able to settle liabilities of Rs 16,000 crores, and use 12,000 acres in possession of BGML to build tech parks and industries and provide employment to 30,000-odd people who travel to Bengaluru everyday to earn their living,” he added.
He said he has submitted proposals to CM Siddaramaiah and Governor Vajubhai Vala, requesting them to take up the idea of recovering gold from tailings with Mr Tomar. “If the state government succeeds in getting permission to process the tailings for gold, it will not only be able to settle liabilities, but recover its dues and create employment opportunities for all those who come home only to catch a few hours of sleep,” he added.
He said “we are ready to give up our lives, but we will not allow anybody to take out gold through open-cast mines because it will displace 8,000 families and leave them out in the cold.”
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