Already known for the world’s highest rail bridge which is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project, this week Reasi district got another distinction when Union Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj revealed that Lithium reserves have been “discovered in the country and that too in Jammu and Kashmir.” Bhardwaj was speaking at the 62nd Central Geological Programming Board meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
According to officials Geological Survey of India for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir.
The report along with 15 other resource-bearing geological reports (G2 & G3 stage) and 35 Geological memorandums were handed over to respective state governments during the 62nd Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting held on February 9 2023. Out of these 51 mineral blocks, five blocks pertain to gold and other blocks pertain to commodities like potash, molybdenum, and base metals spread across 11 states of Jammu & Kashmir (UT), Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The blocks were prepared based on the work carried out by GSI from field seasons 2018-19 to till date.
The discovery in Jammu and Kashmir can put India ahead of major producer countries like Australia and even China.
In J&K officials of the Geological Survey of India said that they will be giving a detailed statement about the exploration in the area in the next few days.
People in the Reasi district are excited that now they would be providing the jobs. A local Rajinder Singh told reporters that the geologists were doing drilling in the area for the past two years. He said three months ago they left the district. “We are sure of the projects to extract lithium will provide jobs to the people,” said a resident. The residents say some 30 years ago a company based in Orissa was exporting stones from the area. “But we didn’t know what happened to that,” said a resident. The residents say since the project might lead to massive investment in the area, it would change the fortunes of not only the district but the whole region.
