India, Australia to explore mineral deposits

Kolkata, Oct 23 (IANS) The Geological Survey of India ( GSI) is partnering with its Australian counterparts to unlock the mineral potential in India.

Characterising India's geological cover, investigating India's lithospheric architecture, resolving 4D geodynamic and metallogenic evolution and detecting and characterising the distal footprints of ore deposits are the main components of the initiative.

"It's a three-year project. We are in the first year. They (Geoscience Australia) are ahead in this field. So we are utilising their expertise. This is our priority project," GSI Director General N. Kutumba Rao told the media here on Monday.

Geoscience Australia is the national agency for geoscience research and geospatial information.

As part of 'Project Uncover' (India), deep seismic reflection surveys (DSRS) would be carried out to interpret the lithospheric architecture of earth.

The idea is to look for potential mineral deposits up to a depth of 1,000 metres or maximum till 2,000 metres.

"Besides, they (Australian experts) would also see our existing data and interpret the data with their latest technology and software to help us locate the mineral deposits," Rao said.

"They will be sharing the know-how with our officers on how to use the machinery concerned, how to obtain the data and how to process the data," he added.

In addition to DSRS, experts will also tap into the domain of magnetotellurics - looking deep into the earth's crust to study its conductivity.

The work involves the Churu-Bundelkhand transect in the north and across the Dharwad region in the south.

--IANS

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