Jonnagiri Gold Mine in Kurnool, which was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), is India’s largest personal gold mine and the one operational gold mine up to now. Round 400 kg of gold is anticipated to be produced in 2026-2027, growing in the direction of 1 tonne per yr.
The mine is unfold over 597.82 hectares of mining lease in Thugali mandal, Kurnool and encompasses the villages of Jonnagiri, Elagudi and Pagadirai. Developer Geomisole Companies (India) calls it the nation’s “first personal sector gold mine with an built-in processing facility in 70 years.”
India buys way more gold than it mines. The corporate imported a report $71.98 billion (about 721 tonnes) of gold in 2025-2026, almost all of its consumption, in accordance with Commerce Division information. By comparability, Johnnagiri’s manufacturing, even at one tonne per yr, is just a few p.c.
Why Andhra Pradesh left it to non-public corporations
For greater than a century, gold in India meant Kolar Gold Mines (KGF). After its closure in 2001, main gold mining ceased, leaving solely the state-run Hatti mine in Karnataka. Reviving buried treasure is a gradual, costly, and unsure course of.
Promoted by Tamil Nadu-based Sriveni Earthmovers and part-owned by listed exploration firm Deccan Gold Mines, Geomisole has owned the land for the reason that Nineteen Nineties, utilized for a mining lease in 2006 and eventually introduced it into manufacturing after investing round Rs 450 crore.
Laws made this route potential. Since 2015, mineral blocks have needed to be put up for public public sale, and the 2021 amendments enable personal explorers who show mineral deposits to retailer them, mine them, and promote the gold freely. Jonnagiri is the primary large-scale personal mine to return via its doorways. In India, gold is listed as one of many metallic minerals, particularly as a valuable metallic.
What Andhra Pradesh has to supply
In line with enterprise line In line with studies, the state is cashing in on each gram of gold with out taking any dangers. Official estimates estimate that the royalties, set at 4% of the worth of the gold, will likely be about 57 million rupees within the first yr and rise to about 144 million rupees as output will increase.
Below the Mines and Minerals (Growth and Regulation) Act, leaseholders should additionally pay a portion of their royalties to the District Minerals Basis, a fund for individuals and communities affected by mining. This share has been pegged at 30% of royalties on leases granted earlier than 2015 and 10% of leases received at public sale since then beneath the Pradhan Mantri Khaniji Kshetra Kalyan Yojana, and is meant to be earmarked for wants reminiscent of ingesting water, well being and training within the mining areas.
Labor Power: Geomisole is estimated to have roughly 300 direct and 300 oblique jobs.
The cupboard has additionally proposed altering the identify of Jonnagiri village to ‘Swarnagiri’ (Golden Hill) and the launch is a part of Mr Naidu’s ‘Swarna Andhra 2047’ plan to increase the state’s economic system by the nation’s centenary.
On the bottom of Jonagiri
Jonnagiri is an open solid mine situated within the Jonnagiri greenstone belt, the identical Dharwar rock the place Kolar and Hatti are situated. The corporate’s personal mining plan, posted on its web site, permits it to extract 400,000 tonnes of ore per yr. The ore is drilled, blasted and crushed, and the gold is extracted by gravity and carbon leaching, a cyanide course of, which is then smelted on-site into doer, with the tough bars later refined into pure metallic.
This water comes via an 18 km pipeline from the Handli Neeva Sujala Sravanti Canal, offering an irrigation lifeline for the arid area of Rayalaseema. On its web site, Geomisole lists its actions within the villages across the leased land, from ingesting water to varsities and plantations, and says it has drilled 40 wells, 10 of which give ingesting water, offering ingesting water to “roughly 3,000 individuals on daily basis throughout the summer time” and two faculties.
From KGF to Jonagiri
Kohler gave up an estimated 800 to 900 tons of gold over 120 years and sank to three.2 km, one of many deepest factors on the earth, till the ore turned so skinny that the nation deserted it. In line with Deccan Gold Mines’ investor submitting, the audited useful resource at Jonnagiri is roughly 8.2 million tonnes of ore at 1.49 grams per tonne, containing almost 12 tonnes of gold, with a principal shaft lifetime of eight to 9 years.
The state is speaking a couple of a lot bigger raise of as much as 42.5 tonnes, nevertheless it stays an exploration goal and the bottom under Jonnagiri has not but been capable of abandon it.
issued – June 24, 2026 2:07 PM IST
