KGF - Little England and The Hell Next Door

 

But more than a miner, Lavelle was the poster boy of the gold rush. Lavelle was not rich, which limited his capabilities to explore the gold reserves. But his vision of creating fields of gold and the dangerous gambles of mining, soon became the premise of a novel – ‘Living Dangerously’ by FE Penny. This made him a popular man, even though his savings were depleting.

But by 1877, the young entrepreneur was unable to scale his business further and was desperate to raise funds. But due to his popularity, support came from another armyman – Maj Gen Beresford of the Madras staff corps in Bangalore. He along with three others – McKenzie, Sir William and Col William Arbuthnot –formed a syndicate with several other army officers called ‘The Colar Concessionaries Company Limited’, which took over the mining operations.

Mining engineers were invited from across the world to dig shafts in Kolar to further the explorations.

But things changed, when the syndicate, under pressure from their investors, approached John Taylor and Sons, a company that brought state-of-the-art mining engineering to India. The arrival of these engineers from Norwich, England started the golden era of KGF.

As Operations in the KGF surged ahead, British planned Asia’s second and India’s first power plant in Kolar. Officers of the Royal Engineers approached the Mysore Maharaja with a proposal to build a hydroelectric plant in the Cauvery river, in 1900. Central Electric Company from New York and Eicher Wyss from Switzerland were given the task of establishing the power plant and 148 km of transmission lines, the longest in the world. Machinery imported from Britain, America and Germany were transported in carts pulled by elephants and horses.

Soon, the candles and kerosene lamps in KGF were replaced by bulbs, even before Bangalore or Mysore were electrified. While in 2018, several parts of the state experienced power cuts, by 1902, KGF had an uninterrupted power supply.

For British engineers and others from across the globe, Kolar was ‘Little England’. Weather like England, bungalows, and clubs made KGF an ideal home. Being a British mining colony, life in KGF was greatly influenced by British culture.

This was in sharp contrast to ‘coolie lines’, the name given to the makeshift homes occupied by miners, a majority of whom were Tamil migrants. Life was hard on the other side, with more than one family often occupying one such shed. It was famous for its rat invasion, where workers killed over 50,000 rats a year.

Workspaces were no different. Despite the constant supply of dehumidified air into the underground tunnels, temperatures in the tunnels shot up to 55 degrees Celsius and accidents were commonplace.

KGF - THE CRADLE OF GOLD RUSH

 

The year was 1871. Michael Fitzgerald Lavelle, a retired Irish soldier from the British Army, had made Bangalore cantonment his home. Retirement was a drag for Lavelle, who had just returned after fighting the Maori wars in New Zealand.

Although he hoped to make it big post-retirement, Lavelle spent much of his time reading; and a four-page article from the 1804 Asiatic Journal he came across, set Lavelle on a journey that eventually birthed the world’s second deepest goldmine – the Kolar Gold Fields.

While 2018 movie ‘KGF’, touted as the biggest Kannada movie of the year, has built curiosity about this forgotten mining town, and India’s gold rush, the makers admit the movie isn’t a historical account but a work of fantasy. However, this pales in comparison to the real story of the Kolar Gold Fields.

Lavelle had developed an interest in gold mining during his time at war in New Zealand. So, he was understandably excited, when an old report by one Lt John Warren spoke about possible gold reserves in Kolar.

Lt Warren’s encounter with Kolar gold began in 1799, after erstwhile ruler Tipu Sultan was killed in the battle of Srirangapatnam by the British.

The British decided to handover Tipu’s territories to the Mysore princely state, but for this land had to be surveyed. Warren, who was then serving in his Majesty’s 33rd regiment of foot, was summoned to Kolar for this task.

Warren had heard rumours of gold reserves and fables of people digging gold with their bare hands, during the time of the Chola dynasty.

Intrigued by the rumours, he announced a reward for anyone who could show him the yellow metal. Soon, villagers appeared before him with bullock carts filled with mud, which they washed in front of the officer to isolate gold powder.

After an investigation, Warren concluded that for every 120 lbs or 56 kg of earth, one grain of gold could be extracted using the villagers’ crude methods and in the hands of professionals, this could open up large gold reserves.

“Should we still fancy for the belief that gold occurs only on a narrow region? Why can’t the gold veins under the ground near Maarikuppam extend far beyond.” he wrote.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE KOLAR GOLD FIELDS

 

 

DH Web Desk, Pranshu Rathee, Bengaluru, 

• DEC 21 2018, 17:14 IST
• UPDATED: DEC 23 2018, 18:17 IST

 

Hysteria reached an all-time high on Friday as the much-awaited Sandalwood magnum opus, KGF released much to the delight of enthralled Kannada film fans who had been eagerly awaiting the Yash starrer thriller.  

To bridge the distance between fact and fiction, DH mines our archives and brings to you ten facts about Kolar gold fields that you may not know.

• The Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), situated 100 kms from Bangalore, is the second deepest mine in the world and has mined gold for over 121 years.
   
• The Britishers fondly called Kolar Gold Fields “Mini England”. In 1903, the British government constructed a lake in Bethamangala to supply water to KGF and surrounding townships. Arrangements were made for filtered water to be supplied to the mines through huge pipelines from the Government Water Works at Bethamangala, five miles away from KGF and the underground water source of the Pala River. Soon Bethamangala became a popular sailing and picnic spot for the British population in KGF.
   
• After Japan, KGF became the second city to be electrified in Asia.
   
• To speed up gold production in a less hazardous manner, the Kolar Gold Fields were provided with electricity generated at the hydro-electric station, the first one in Asia, at the Shivanasamudra, about 131 kilometres away.
   
• In June 1902, electricity was supplied for the mining operations at KGF, from India's first and oldest power generation plant which was called the 'Kaveri Electric Power Plant' from Shivanasamudra.
   
• The capacity was increased in 1903, following which the plant was generating excess than what was required at Kolar. And so, a plan was conceived for providing electric lighting in Bengaluru. On August 3, 1905, Namma Bengaluru’s first electric lights were switched on! Within a few years, many parts of the city were electrified.
   
• In the 1960s, a laboratory had been set up at a depth of 8,000 feet in the gold mines for experiments on the life of protons after an article by Homi Jahangir Bhabha at an international seminar in Mumbai in December 1950.
   
• Research on cosmic rays was conducted at KGF and Pakistan’s only Nobel prize-winning scientist, Absuth Sallam had also visited the laboratory. Experiments were staged to discover whether iron rods weighing 8,000 tonnes would melt when radiation passed through them. ​The experiment were declared a failure five or six years later.  
• Fears of nuclear fuel waste being dumped in the mines of Kolar Gold Fields dominated in the 1980s.
   
• Inhabitants of present-day KGF have several issues such as slums, open drains, lack of public toilets, electricity issues and environmental pollution due to past mining operations and scientific experiments. A lot of mine workers are now engaged in odd jobs, waiting for another gold rush.

THE HISTORY OF BGML AND ITS OPERATIONS IN KGF

The gold mines in Kolar are located about 100 km away from Bengaluru city. When it was operational, it was the world’s second deepest gold mine with mining activity being conducted at a depth of 3,000 ft. The mines were active for 121 years and closed in February 2001. 

In 2001, the Board for Industrial and Financial Closure had called for shutting down the mines. However, in 2009, a single-bench judge of the Karnataka High Court issued an order permitting the sale of BGML by inviting global tenders in order to revive the company. The issue was appealed in the Supreme Court in 2013, which permitted the Union government to revive the mines itself. After its closure, in 2013, the Union government had sought to sell BGML to private entities. The Union government had then directed BGML to conduct a study of dumps and mines. In 2019, the Union government submitted to the Supreme Court that it would take nine months to complete a feasibility study, which was being conducted by MECL. In August this year, the report was submitted to the government, after which the announcement was made by the Union Minister. 

However, sources with the Department of Mines and geology said that optimization of operations at BGML could occur efficiently only if the company is privatized. “Instead of using public funds to revive it, if it is privatized and the government enters into a profit-sharing agreement with the company, the government stands to benefit more as the taxpayers will not have to bear operations costs. But this too is a point of contention right now,” the senior official said.

WILL NEW TECHNOLOGY HELP TO REVIVE THE MINES WITH LOW COST?

 

A senior official with MECL said that using laser mining technology, mining operations could once again begin and the Karnataka government would make profits close to Rs 1,100 crore as the technology would cut out many operational costs that existed in 2001. 

Besides, the Karnataka government is planning on not just selling the gold exclusively to RBI, but fall in line with the operations at Hatti Gold Mines, where the gold is sold to buyers at market value. 

“The gold prices are very good right now. A long-standing demand in KGF was to generate employment. Successive governments have not done this but reviving it will help this cause,” the senior official with the Mines and geology Department said. 

Dr Unnikrishnan, former Chief Finance Manager and advisor to the Union Ministry of Mines, with 39-years experience in gold mining operations, said that reopening the deep mines will not be a simple task as the essential infrastructures like hoists, winding engines, runners, underground air conditioning and the special power generation plant in the existing plant needs a complete revamp. “The cost of exhaustive repairs and the technical know-how for this has to be optimised first. Bharat Gold Mines Limited had always maintained data on proven ore reserve. At present price, much of this will be viable. Location of these mines and access points are being identified To my knowledge, using laser beam  technology for extraction of gold from the ore body will ensure a 95% recovery ratio. This can minimise extraction costs,” Dr Unnikrishnan said. 

KOLAR GOLD FIELDS MINES TO BE REVIVED AFTER NEARLY TWO DECADES, IS IT FEASIBLE?

 

The mining operations at Kolar Gold Fields were shut down in 2001 as the public sector mining company was incurring huge losses.

Nearly two decades after the gold mines shut down in Kolar, the Union government has decided to revive the mining operations. On Wednesday, Union Minister for Mines, Pralhad Joshi announced that the Union government has decided to revive Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML), the public sector company, which was in-charge of gold mining operations in Kolar Gold Fields. 

The Union government has charged the Minerals Exploration Corporation Limited with conducting a feasibility study, to re-evaluate whether mining operations are feasible and to analyse whether reviving the mines can be turned into a profitable venture by using new technologies. Sources with MECL said that a preliminary feasibility study was submitted to the Union Ministry of Mines in August this year. Senior officials with the Department of Mines and Geology in Karnataka said that Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had discussed the issue in late August and had decided to revive the mining operations as the study had indicated profitable operations. 

“A lot of water has accumulated in between and in order to drill deeper, we would have to suction the underground water, which is not only inadvisable keeping in mind the environmental factors but the cost of extracting the ore would also be higher. We have identified a few areas but we are still in the process of identifying the type of gold vein and the movement in areas where shallow mining activity had taken place,” the MECL official said. 

Officials with the Department of Mines and Geology said that southern and south-eastern regions like Chikkaragunta of KGF have been identified as feasible areas for mining. Shanmukha, the department official in-charge in KGF, told TNM that one of the reasons why mining operations shut down on February 28, 2001, was due to lack of adequate technology to optimise the cost of mining. Besides, the gold extracted from KGF was sold exclusively to the Reserve Bank of India at rates less than the market value, which had rendered the operations unprofitable. 

“The gold mining activity became unprofitable 11 years before the mines were shut down. The recurring losses and lack of technology to optimise costs was becoming a burden on the taxpayer,” he said.