Secretary, Mining, Dr. Rashmi Singh today visited Lithium prospect site located in Salal-Haimna area of the district here and held onsite review of the site. Director, Geology and Mining, O.P Bhagat; Deputy DG, GSI, Jammu, P. S. Misra; Director GSI Jammu, Dr. Ajay Kumar; Joint Director, Jammu, H.L Langeh; District Mineral Officer, Reasi, Shafiq Ahmed; Sarpanches, and prominent citizens of the area also accompanied the secretary during the visit.
Interacting with the officers on the occasion, the Secretary said that Lithium exploration within J&K will give a push to green economy, especially in the sector of electric vehicles and holds immense importance for the nation as currently we are dependent on imports of lithium.
She said Geological Survey of India for the first time had established an inferred resource (UNFC -333) of 5.9 million tonnes of Lithium bearing Bauxite (aluminous laterite) with an average grade of 583 ppm (gram per tonne), in Salal – Haimna area of Reasi District, J&K, through G-3 stage preliminary exploration.
The Secretary also interacted with the local community members including PRI representatives present on the site.During the site visit, the officers informed the Secretary that the demarcation work on the lithium prospect site has been completed, which is spread in an area of around 0.84 sqkm out of three square kilometers block.
Accordingly, Revenue Department has also completed the task of creation of lists of habitations, plantations and others assets falling within these demarcated limits.Earlier, Secretary Mining held a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Reasi, Babila Rakwal; Director Geology and Mining and district officers of different departments.
During the meeting, coordination issues between different departments were taken up and directions were passed to expedite forest clearance so that ore beneficiation study could be completed by the GSI without further delay.
During the meeting, the Secretary underscored the importance of GSI report which would enable the department of Geology & Mining to proceed further with process involved in extraction and utilization of this critical mineral.
She underscored the importance of all stake holders to ensure that all possible steps be taken to take lithium project forward.DC Reasi assured full support and also directed the officers present to fully cooperate in the process.