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High-grade uranium found in Gulbarga

The Hyderabad-based Atomic Minerals Division of the Department of Atomic Energy said it had recently discovered one of the world's richest grades of uranium in the Bhima basin at Gogi in Gulbarga district of Karnataka.

A borehole dug to the depth of 80 metres revealed more than 0.1 per cent uranium oxide, the highest value of uranium deposit found outside Canada, says AMD director Dr K K Dwivedy. The richest grade uranium deposits in the world are found in the MacArthur area of Canada.

He said after the discovery of the deposits in Gogi, the AMD undertook detailed explorations to check if there was sufficient amounts of the compound for mining. It dug four other boreholes and came up with satisfactory results, Dr Dwivedy said.

Though higher ore grades were known in Australia, Dr Dwivedy said the thickness found at Gogi were not found elsewhere.

Based on data collected so far, the uranium deposits at Gogi were somewhat different from the deposits found in the Tambapur-Yellapur region of Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh where AMD has found large reserves of uranium.

Dr Dwivedy also expressed optimism about locating similar deposits in the Pakhal basin in Andhra Pradesh, the Kaladgi basin in Karnataka and Maharashtra, the Chhatisgarh basin in Orissa and the Abujhmar basin in Madhya Pradesh.

He said recent work by the AMD proved that the Lambapur-Yellapur-Chatriya belt in Nalgonda had much higher reserves of uranium than the Singhbhum uranium belt in Bihar, where three uranium mines -- Jadughuda, Bhatin and Narvapahara -- are currently in operation. Exploratory mining would be taken up at Lambapur area from 1999, it was expected that a regular mining and milling project, would be coming up in the area during the beginning of the tenth plan, he said.

Dr Dwivedy said since India has vast resources of thorium, technology was under development for thorium-fuel based power reactors utilising the first breeder technology.

The recent discoveries of high grade uranium would give further impetus to the country's nuclear power programme based on pressurised heavy water reactors. Four such reactors, two each, in Rajasthan and Karnataka, were likely to be commissioned before 2000. A 500 MW PHWR was also coming up at Tarapur in Maharashtra, he said.

He said once the practicability of mining these discoveries was confirmed, uranium supply for the nuclear power reactors in the country would not be a constraint any more.

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