Researchers at Goa University find traces of gold in iron ore

Researchers at the Botany department of the Goa University, Sujata Dabolkar and Dr. Nandakumar Kamat revealed gold concentration ranges from 7.71-13 pp indicating the auriferous ( containing gold) nature of Goa’s iron ore.

Researchers at Goa University find traces of gold in iron ore

A group of researchers at Goa University have revealed the traces of gold in the iron ore harvested and exported for decades from the mining pits in the coastal state.      Researchers at the Botany department of the Goa University, Sujata Dabolkar and Dr. Nandakumar Kamat revealed gold concentration ranges from 7.71-13 pp indicating the auriferous ( containing gold) nature of Goa’s iron ore.

The latest edition of the Journal of Geosciences Research has published the research paper by Dabolkar and Dr. Kamat. The paper stated that it is the first such research that has been conducted in the state which analyses the presence of gold in the ore extracted from Goa’s iron ore mines, which have been shut down since 2018, following a Supreme Court order that pointed out irregularities in the mining lease renewal processes.

The research paper states, “Detection of gold in the samples has been reported. The gold concentration ranges from 7.71-13 ppm indicating the auriferous nature of Goa’s iron ore. There needs to be further research on neglected auriferous iron ore of Goa.”

It adds that it is first such report on “the detection of gold from the BHQ (Banded Hematite Quartzite) and the BMQ (branded magnetite quartzite) of Goa.

The scholars in their study however point out that both the government sector as regulator and private mining companies were lacking in knowledge of systematic geochemical evaluation of iron ore and were only oriented towards an excavation and export strategy, which completely overlooked gold mineralization.

“Despite (being) endowed with chemically the most diverse and creative Archean rocks in the Western Dharwar Craton, Goa still lacks an intensive knowledge-based sustainable mining policy. There is further scope for confirmation of gold by Geological Survery of India, IITs and other research institutes of India,” the study states.

“There is a lot of scope to carry out work on the metallogeny of gold. Biogeochemical cycling of gold can be studied including the investigations on the occurrence of vermiform fold, phytoform gold, gold from the alluvial deposits, sediments, and laterites,” the study states.

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