Kolar Gold Fields to Reopen After Several Decades
June 16, 2025 05:20:26 PM
The revival process will focus primarily on surface-level tailings extraction.
By Paul Ploumis
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The government announced plans to revive the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in the south Indian state of Karnataka. This marks the restart of first gold mine in India since independence. The mine was finally shut down in February 2001 on account of high costs and reduced profitability and has been remaining idle since then.
In June last year, the state cabinet had approved a proposal from the Union Government for surface mining across 13 tailings dumps spread over 1,003 acres of land. Though, these dumps contain waste from past mining operations, they are rich in residual gold. According to rough estimates, the dump’s yield is approximately 23 tonnes of recoverable gold. Upon full operations, it could produce up to 750 kilograms of gold per year.
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The revival process will focus primarily on surface-level tailings extraction. The government plans to employ modern mining techniques such as heap leaching and carbon-in-pulp, which will deliver significant cost reduction and high efficiency.
The production restart at KGF mines will help the country boost its domestic gold output, thereby reducing its reliance on imported gold. Furthermore, it will lead to significant job creation and economic activity in the region.
The initial surface operations are scheduled to begin shortly. The commencement of full scale operations are subject to necessary environmental and other regulatory approvals.
