In 1804, an Englishman named Michael Fitzgerald Levelly read an article. In it, there was a gold mine in the village of Kolar in karnataka, India. Following this, he came to Bangalore in 1870. At that time, since Bangalore was under the british, he stayed here and was engaged in searching for a gold mine in the Kolar area. At that time, the english commander Warren received news of the existence of a gold mine through him. Following this, commander Warren tried to separate the gold from the soil. But, they only got a few grams of gold. However, commander Warren still had an overwhelming desire. Later, between 1804 and 1860, many researches and studies were conducted in the Kolar area. But no results were obtained. Many lives were lost. Later, research in the Kolar area was banned. However, in 1871, after Warren, the interest of the Englishman Michael Fitzgerald Llewelly increased.
Thus, he chose a place in the Kolar area. Since the place was under the control of the Maharaja of mysore, he asked the Maharaja of mysore for permission to conduct excavations there. He also gave permission for 20 years. Following this, full-scale work began in the place in 1875. The lights were lit using electricity there. Due to this, Kolar became the first city in india to receive electricity. Later, the officials and engineers of the british government started building houses in that area. Later, many settlements came there. The place was called kgf, 'Little England'. By 1902, kgf ranked 6th in the world in total gold production. Later, after the country gained independence, the indian government took over the place, and the gold mine was nationalized in 1956.

When Bharat gold Mines Limited started working there in 1970, profits gradually decreased after the initial success. After 1979, it became impossible to pay even the workers working there. Due to this, many were dismissed from their jobs. The company stopped mining gold in 2001. Later, the place fell into disrepair. It is said that about 900 tons of gold may have been produced from kgf in almost 125 years. Meanwhile, the karnataka government has given approval to the central government to extract gold from kgf again after 24 years. In june 2024, the karnataka cabinet gave the green signal to the central government’s proposal to mine 13 dumps spread over 1,003 acres of land owned by Bharat gold Mines Limited (BGML). These dumps contain waste from past mining operations. This is said to contain gold.

The dumps are officially estimated to contain 32 million tonnes of material, from which about 23 tonnes of gold can be recovered. If the work is fully operational, the annual gold production is expected to be 750 tonnes. india is one of the largest gold buyers in the world, importing 800-900 tonnes of gold annually. If the kgf is restarted, india will reduce its gold imports. This will save crores of foreign exchange and create employment for many. Initial surface operations will begin soon, once approvals are received from the central and state governments. Full-scale production is expected to begin once environmental and operational clearances are completed. If gold is produced only in india as planned, the world will definitely look back at India.
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kolar mines

Sowmiya Sriram

17/06/2025 10:42 AM