The nondescript Gogi village in Gulbarga district about 600km away from Bangalore will soon become the uranium capital of India with its serendipity of superior uranium discovery, the highest value uranium deposit found outside Canada and Australia. This major rare atomic mineral find by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMDER) will significantly help to meet the eternal energy appetite of India in the coming years.
According to AMDER report, the traces of Uranium found 12 years ago were further prospected by digging multiple bore-holes over a seven-acre field, and has now confirmed that the earth below Gogi village is abundant with hi-grade Uranium deposits. The institute is understood to have approached the Karnataka state government to release 100 acres of land in and around the village which is likely to displace the whole population. Karnataka is one of the few states in the country that has good track record in managing rehabilitation for such projects in the past.
AMDER is already inviting tenders from qualified miners to develop an underground mine. The project is estimated to cost about $3mn, and expected to be completed in 36 months which is tipped as most economically viable uranium mining undertaking.
Prior to the Gogi find, the institute was involved in 10 such discoveries in the past including uranium deposits in Singhbum district (Bihar), West Khasi hills (Meghalaya) and Nalgonda district (Andhra Pradesh). It is also instrumental in finding thorium deposits in the coasts of Kerala and Orissa.
In addition to nuclear deals with countries including France, Russia and the US, India can now expect to produce indigenous uranium to feed its existing and upcoming reactors in the near future. India has world’s largest thorium deposits and the country boasts of building its first ambitious thorium power plant at Kalpakam near Chennai.
To run the proto-type thorium plant, India needs to ensure uninterrupted plutonium supplies, a discharge mineral from uranium which helps thorium to generate power. India holds the distinction of developing the novel Fast Thorium Breeder Reactor (FTBR) technology that uses both thorium and plutonium within the same reactor.
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