Treasure in tailings: India is looking at ways to boost gold output

New Delhi: India is exploring new ways to boost domestic gold production, including extracting it from mine tailings, amid expectations that bullion prices will continue to appreciate, officials said.

International gold prices surged 6.7% in early September to around $3,750 per ounce, after a 4% increase in August, with persistent geopolitical concerns and purchases by central banks fuelling the rally. Domestically, 24-carat gold prices surpassed ₹1,14,000 per 10 gm earlier this month, from ₹95,000 per 10 gm in May.

India is a large importer of the yellow metal, with its annual imports ranging between 650-1,000 tonnes over the past decade.


"We have reviewed other methods to increase gold production. Since ore availability is a challenge, the government is focusing on promoting methods such as the extraction of the precious metal from tailings," a senior official told ET on condition of anonymity.

Gold tailings refers to particles remaining after the extraction of gold from ore, a fine powder that contains traces of gold and other precious metals. Other metals, such as zinc and copper, are also found with gold, and "we are trying to extract more of these metals also", the official added.

Extraction from tailings is an expensive process but with higher prices, projected to go up further, it can prove to be commercially viable. Gold is mainly extracted from its ore, but other ways, such as extraction from tailings, can boost production with valuations on the rise.

However, experts have pointed out that the mechanisation of mining on a large scale is required for scaling up gold extraction.

"We need to move from labour-intensive shallow methods to mechanised ones," said Abhijit Kulkarni, senior partner-metals & mining, EY-Parthenon India, adding tailings retreatment through modern methods can improve gold recoveries.

India produced 1.62 tonnes of gold in 2024-25 valued at about Rs 1,255 crore, according to the mines ministry data, with Karnataka leading the states in production, while the remaining output came from Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.