Kolar Gold Fields : Reviving Gold Mining
The Karnataka government recently cleared a proposal of the Centre for reviving gold mining and auctioning of 13 tailing dumps at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) by the Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML).
- Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) is a mining area in the Kolar District of Karnataka, 100 km from Bengaluru.
- It is estimated that gold has been mined in KFG for over 2000 years.
- KGF’s modern success is generally attributed to the firm John Taylor & Sons, after John Taylor III took control of the mines in 1880 and established what was at one time the deepest and most productive gold mine in the world.
- KGF was the first Indian city to be electrified in 1902.
- At its peak, KGF was home to 30000 mine workers and their families and was a multiethnic community with experienced miners recruited from around the world.
- The mines were run by the company up until 1956, when they were taken over by the Government of Mysore, who employed John Taylor & Sons as mining consultants.
- Although the annual production in some years was more than 95 percent of India’s gold output, the mines declined and finally closed in 2001.
