Big discovery for the country! India finds 5.9 million tonnes lithium deposits in Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi, February 10:The central government, on Thursday, said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium, a non-ferrous metal and one of the key components in EV batteries, was found in the Reasi district.

"Geological Survey of India (GSI) 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 and Kashmir," the Ministry of Mines said.

According to the ministry, as many as 51 mineral blocks including Lithium and Gold were handed over to respective state governments.

"Out of these 51 mineral blocks, 5 blocks pertain to gold and other blocks pertain to commodities like potash, molybdenum, base metals etc. spread across 11 states of Jammu and Kashmir (UT), Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana," the ministry added.

The blocks were made based on the work done by GSI from the field seasons of 2018–19 to till date. In addition to this, 17 reports of coal and lignite totalling 7897 million tonnes were given to the coal ministry. During the meeting, seven publications on various subjects and intervention areas that GSI works in were also released.

"The proposed Annual Programme for the ensuing Field Season 2023-24 was presented and discussed during the meeting. During the ensuing year 2023-24, GSI is taking up 966 programmes comprising 318 mineral exploration projects including 12 marine mineral investigation projects," the ministry further said.

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The Geological Survey of India has formulated 115 projects on strategic and critical minerals and 16 projects on fertiliser minerals. "55 programmes on geoinformatics, 140 programmes on fundamental and multidisciplinary geosciences, and 155 programs for training and institutional capacity building have also been taken up," the Mines ministry stated.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was established in 1851 to find coal deposits for the Railways. Over the years, GSI has not only grown into a repository of geo-science information required in various fields in the country but has also attained the status of a geo-scientific organisation of international repute. Its main functions relate to creating and updating national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment.