The Jammu and Kashmir Government has finally decided to start first gold exploration in the Laddakh region. The gold exploration will be initiated in the desert of Ladakh adjoining the banks of river Indus by a team sent by state government.

According to the report, the state Department of Geology and Mining has planned to constitute a team of geologists to go to Ladakh region for the gold exploration.

Parvez Ahmed Malik, Director Geology and Mining, said that several reports and historical references have given a clear indication that people had explored alluvial gold from the Indus bed in this region.

He said:

After the end of winter, we have decided to send a team of geologists to Ladakh to explore the feasibility of gold mining in the area. If people have been able to get gold by crude methods, why can’t we get the same using scientific methodology?

Earlier, the local residents had collected rock chip samples from the region and later the geologists identified the area as gold bearing zones. Malik said further that the team would try to expose the rocks with geochemical methods like stream sediment sampling;If the process would fail, the team would apply soil-sampling process for further exploration.

According to the report, one can track the Indian history of gold mining from 2000 years back from now. When India became free, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) started carrying out gold explorations in different parts across the country. The State Directorates of Geology and Mining have also assisted GSI in gold exploration.

The history says that the ‘giant ants’ were found in the Laddakh region that used to dig up gold. Some reports also said that people had reportedly mined gold in the Ladakh Himalayas in the Upper Indus Valley.

According to some Historians, Greek historian Herodotus first described ants’ in the 5th century BC the ‘giantants’ as big Himalayan marmots. The report also said that the marmots were said to throw up gold bearing soil during the digging burrows.

Some residents from Laddakh also had claimed that for generations, people who lived near the banks of river Indus had collected the gold particles from this region. Sonam Dawa, President, Ladakh Buddhist Association also supported the tales by saying that he also had heard stories of people extracting gold from the Indus sands from his grandparents also.

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