Kolar Gold Fields
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Kolar Gold Fields, 1908
City in the south-east of Kolar District, Mysore State, situated on a branch railway (10 miles long) from Bowringpet, between 12degree 50' and 13degree o' N. and 78 degree 18' and 78 degree 21' E., to the east of a low ridge of hills, of which Betarayan (3,199 feet) is the most conspicuous point. Area, 15 square miles; population (1901), 38,204. In 1891 the population was only 7,085, and the entire city has come into being since 1887.
The existence of gold in this region had long been known, and there are traces of old workings. Mining was attempted, but without success, in the time of Tipii Sultan, and in 1802 Lieut. Warren examined and reported upon this gold tract. In 1873 Mr. M. F. Lavelle obtained from the Mysore government exclusive mining rights for twenty years, and sank a shaft near Urigam in 1875. But finding that large capital was needed for carrying on the work, he transferred his rights in 1876, with the approval of the government, to a syndicate known as the Kolar Concessionaires, to whom 20 square miles were leased for thirty years on more favourable terms. In 1881 the aid was secured of Messrs. John Taylor & Sons, mining engineers in London ; and Captain B. D. Plummer, a miner of great experience, commenced operations at the Nundydroog mine. These came to an end for want of funds in 1883, and the outlook for the whole field was of the gloomiest. The Mysore mine still had £13,000 left. On the strong advice of Mr. John Taylor, Captain Plummer was sent out as a forlorn hope in December, 1883, to do the best he could with this amount. Before long he had the good fortune to discover the Champion lode, and by 1885 the success of the Kolar gold-field had been established. Many changes had meanwhile been made in the terms of leases, which had the effect of both encouraging the industry and giving the State a legitimate share in the profits. The Kolar Gold Fields now yield nearly all the gold produced in India, and some of the mines are among the richest in the world. To the end of 1904 the total value of gold produced was 21 millions sterling, and there had been paid in dividends 9 millions, and in royalty to the Mysore*. State one million. The nominal capital of the eleven companies at work at the end of 1904 was 2 1 millions sterling, valued in the London market at about f)\ millions. Of these companies, five (Mysore, Champion Reef Ooregum, Nundydroog, and Balaghat) paid dividends, and five pro- duced gold but paid no dividends. The dividends paid by the first five averaged 74 per cent, on their paid-up capital, but for individual companies it came to 145 per cent, for the first and 169 for the second. The number of persons employed in 1904 was 510 Europeans, 415 Eurasians, and 27,000 natives. The wages paid in the year amounted to 70 ½ lakhs or £470,000.
The following improvements have been carried out by the State for the promotion of the Gold Fields. In 1894 was opened the branch railway from Bowringpet junction, passing through the mines. In 1899 a Sanitary Board was formed, composed of three ex-officio and four non-official members, the latter nominated by the Mining Board and approved by the State. The Special Magistrate is ex-officio president. In 1900 the Gold Fields were formed into a separate police district, together with the Bowringpet, Maldr, and Mulbagal taluks. A number of Sikhs and Punjabis have been recruited, and in 1904 the force con- sisted of a European Superintendent, 50 subordinate officers, and 726 constables. The number of grave crimes reported was 488, of which 70 per cent, were detected. Co-operating with this force, especially for prevention of gold thefts, are also 6 European supervisors, with 315 native watchmen under them, and 4 Punjabi jemadars, with 125 Pun- jabi watchmen. In the middle of 1902 the Cauvery power scheme commenced supplying electric power to the mines from the Cauvery Falls at Sivasamudram,' 92 miles distant. Since August, 1902, there has been uninterrupted transmission of 4,185 horse-power. So satis- factory have been the results that a further supply of 2,500 horse- power, applied for by the mining companies, was installed in 1905, and 2,000 additional to this is being arranged for. The power is also being applied to the working of saw-mills at the mines. A scheme for an efficient water-supply, drawn from the Betmangala tank on the Palar river, 6 miles to the east, was finished in 1905. The water, filtered by the Jewel system, is pumped to a reservoir at the new town, and each mine can draw its supply from the main laid through the fields. The State undertakes to supply a million gallons a day to the mines, and an additional half-million if found necessary. Churches, a club, an hotel, large shops, &c, had been erected at various times, but since 1895 the necessity of laying out a new town for the popula- tion of the Gold Fields was recognized. Roads and wells were gradually made, and land acquired. In 1901 a final plan was adopted for the town (since named Robertsonpet, after a former Resident), which extends north and south to the east of the Gold Fields. Con- nected with it are cooly colonies, providing sanitary dwellings for the workpeople. Between the residential and bazar sites has been reserved an open space for a park or public garden.
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
2023
Samdani MN, Oct 7, 2023: The Times of India
Closed now, Kolar Gold mine was far bigger
The Kannada blockbuster series of KGF films has made Kolar Gold Fields a household name in the past few years. While the films are set in the 1970s and 80s, the mines are centuries old. The Cholas are said to have tried their hand at gold mining here more than 1,000 years ago. However, British industrialist John Taylor III really turned Kolar’s tap on in the 1880s.
His company, John Taylor & Sons, operated the Kolar mines from 1880 to 1956, when they were nationalised. To run the mines, Kolar even had electricity before the rest of India.
By the time operations at Kolar were shut in 2001, due to a sharp fall in international gold prices, the mines had yielded about 900 tonnes of gold. But Geomysore’s managing director, Dr Modali Hanuma Prasad (in pic), says KGF would have again become profitable had the Centre borne the losses for two years. Kolar mines still have gold reserves, he believes.
India’s only significant gold producer now is the Hutti mine in Karnataka that was revived in 1947. Since then, it has produced nearly 2 tonnes of gold per year.
2026: status
Ranganath K, TNN, March 15, 2026: The Times of India
From: Ranganath K, TNN, March 15, 2026: The Times of India
The sirens have long fallen silent and the shafts are sealed, but people keep arriving at the edge of the old dumps in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) with sacks and shovels.
On March 1, 2001, the Bharath Gold Mines Ltd (BGML) shut its KGF operations, citing low presence of ore that made extraction uneconomical. KGF produced more than 800 tonnes of gold during its 120-year history, according to the Geological Survey of India. Yet, the search in Kolar, once a thriving town around 70km from Bengaluru, known as ‘Mini England’, and now dotted with the detritus of mining, never entirely stopped. In fact, it gets fresh impetus whenever gold prices surge. Today, it is no longer firms or govt looking for gold, but small groups of people who believe the earth still holds traces of the yellow metal.
The Last Scramble
They come quietly, often in small groups. They cut open barbed-wire fencing, slip past guards and fill sacks with mud from old shafts and dumpyards. The hope is modest: that the mud may contain particles of gold ore which, once processed, will yield a few milligrams of the metal. Even that meagre quantity is worth the risk when a gram of gold costs over Rs 16,000.
Recently, the Oorgaum police arrested 16 persons in two separate incidents. On Feb 6, a security guard, Thyagavelu, spotted eight people entering Gifford’s shaft, one of the major access shafts to the underground mines, after cutting through the fencing. He alerted colleagues and the police. The group was arrested. Four days later, another guard, Shankar, noticed a gang of eight in a different shaft. They, too, were taken into custody.
The accused reportedly admitted that they extracted minute particles of gold and sold them to local jewellers. Circle inspector Markondayya said during the peak of mining operations, one tonne of ore could yield three to four grams of gold. “Even today, people believe that small amounts of ore remain in discarded heaps, which can be recovered through chemical extraction.”
Though the area under BGML is guarded by private security agencies, the vast, open terrain makes complete control difficult. R N Selvan, who served as the officer on special duty for over eight years, says that in the initial years after closure, the premises were guarded by the BSF, but the force was later withdrawn. Efforts to secure CISF or another central force did not succeed, as the mining area is largely open land.
“In my years of service, I’ve seen many such thefts,” says Selvan. Even when security is tight, groups familiar with the terrain find ways to enter. At times, he adds, security personnel themselves have colluded in the smuggling of mud.
Digging For Dust
The belief that some gold remains may not be entirely unfounded. During active mining years, cyanide leaching was used to extract gold from ore. The process left behind large tailing dumps, locally known as cyanide dumps, spread across KGF. These heaps, yellow in colour, glitter under sunlight, giving the impression that gold particles may still be embedded in the mud.
Sources who worked in the mines estimate that nearly 32 million tonnes of mud lie in these dumps. They argue that if properly recycled, the material could yield a significant quantity of gold. For informal scavengers, that possibility is enough.
K M Divakaran, retired chief engineer of BGML, explains that gold deposits in the region are linked to ancient geology. “The presence of gold ore in South India is comparable to regions like South Africa and Western Australia,” he says. The Kolar schist belt, a geological zone known for gold deposits, stretches about 80km between KGF and Srinivasapur in Kolar district. According to Divakaran, 29 ore loads were identified across around 60 shafts, including Chiguragunta in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Of these, only three were extensively tapped over 120 years, yielding about 800 to 900 tonnes of gold. Ore dust, he says, often mixes with mud. Gold particles can be separated from this mix through chemical processes.
After-Mine Economy
Retired miners in the Oorgaum area say the method used by those engaged in mud smuggling is basic. The mud is first filtered with water. It is then handed over to goldsmiths or members of the Marwari community who have expertise in extraction.
Murali, a goldsmith, describes it as “simple physics and chemistry”: being heavier than water, gold particles settle at the bottom when the slurry flows through a small pit. The collected concentrate is mixed with mercury and heated. The mercury evaporates, leaving the gold behind. The process is illegal and hazardous, but persists. Some reportedly pay former BGML employees for information about spots where mud may still contain gold.
Police say scavenging from the abandoned mining areas has, over time, become an inherited activity for some families in Susaipalyam, a settlement near KGF.
While most steal mud, scrap iron and other materials, a police officer said a few families continue to search for traces of gold in wastewater flowing through old drains from the mining area. Susaipalyam, with a population of about 1,800, remains one of the more economically backward pockets around KGF, with limited educational opportunities. Manivannan (name changed), a 50-year-old who has seen such activity since childhood, says some middlemen also provide technical know-how for extracting traces of gold.
There have been fatalities. On May 14, 2020, three people died while trying to enter a deep sink at Hancock’s shaft. During mining operations, slush from the smelting process was drained through pipelines into such sinks. Believing that residual gold might have settled at the bottom, a group of seven men attempted to enter the open well-like structure.
Two men climbed down using a pipeline but collapsed due to asphyxiation. A third entered later, felt suffocated and came out. When there was no response from below, another man, whose father was inside, jumped into the sink without support. It was pitch dark. Police and fire personnel were alerted. Two bodies were retrieved quickly, while the third was recovered only after several days of effort. The digging continues despite the risks.
HOW THE GOLD RUSH BEGAN
Mining here began modestly in the 1750s — using handmade tools and candlelight — during the reign of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. After Tipu’s defeat, the British took over. In 1870, John Taylor and Company obtained a licence from the Mysore govt, and by 1880, licensed mining began in earnest. Skilled workers were brought from the UK. At its peak, over 12,000 people worked here, and AngloIndian families made KGF their home. It was truly the end of an era when the mines finally closed in 2001. Even today, however, many return during festivals to reconnect with the place.
MINERS MAKE ANOTHER REVIVAL BID
On Feb 5, former employees wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi, renewing their demand for reopening the mines. The signatories claim that with existing shafts, tunnels and mapped reserves across the 80km Kolar belt, production could begin at two to five tonnes annually, which could gradually rise to 100 tonnes. India imports most of the gold it consumes each year, and the former miners argue that reopening KGF could reduce that dependence and generate employment. K M Divakaran, former chief engineer, BGML, and president, BGM All Employees
Industrial Co-operative Society & Employees Forum, wrote on behalf of the former employees, claiming “more than 60,000 man-years of gold mine experience and expertise”, and adding that reopening mining at KGF at the earliest was “in the interest of all concerned”. Dharmapuri
