The Union government has rejected  Deccan Exploration Services Private Limited (DESPL)'s plea to  renew the mining lease (ML) for ‘Ganajur Gold Mining’ project. This project was supposed to explore gold mining on 72 acres of land at Ganajur village near Haveri.

However, the ministry of mines has clarified that there is no option to grant a mining lease under section 10A (2) (b) of the MMRD Act 1957, amendment 2021.

Now, the company will have to participate in an open auction and bid to get a composite license for exploring gold in Ganajur. The ministry of mines has cited many reasons to reject the proposal as a violation of norms and delay in taking decisions by the state government. But the company has started a legal case against the state and Union government to get a mining lease.

According to a letter from the ministry of mines, DESPL’s application was premature for a grant of a mining lease without establishing mineralisation as per United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) guidelines as on the date of filling.

The company has not conducted the prospecting operations as per UNFC norms on the date of filing of application. DESPL had also filed it late by 53 days which is exclusive of the three months allowed as the outer limit for filing of ML application.

But, DESPL has denied these allegations. It said they have been following guidelines prescribed by the ministry of mines. But, the state government (in 2017) has neglected the issue.

The company has been working to discover minerals at Ganajur for the last 15 years. Officials say that they have been following government guidelines for getting an ML, but are suffering due to the lapse of the state government. Company officials are confident about getting justice. They have filed a writ petition in the high court and hope it will uphold their stand.

An Ambitious Rs 350 crore project 

DESPL has been waiting for the ‘Letter of Intent' (LOI) for the last 10 years to start mining at Ganajur. The company came forward to invest Rs 350 crore during a mega investors’ meet in 2010 during the BJP government in the state. The company has spent Rs 60 crore for exploration, testing and gold assessment in the proposed area. The company has identified 72 acres of land and deposited Rs 6.8 crore with KIDB as the initial amount for land acquisition. People were expecting it will create more than 500 jobs.

DESPL company has to participate in an open auction and bid to get a composite license for exploring gold in Ganajur.