Prospecting in Nepal

oldtimerROB said:

China is the biggest producer of gold in the world and in the nineteenth century Tibet produced a lot of gold nuggets in alluvial deposits.I venture to say a lot of China,s gold at present is mined in Tibet.
Now if you could only cross that northern border into Tibet undetected.

Click to expand...

No, mostly not from Tibet.

"There are no commercial mines for production of gold in Nepal, although seasonal alluvial gold by people on the rivers mentioned earlier [see below] are going on for a very long time. Though Department of mining and geology has issued many prospecting licenses for gold exploration by commercial ventures, production is yet to commence.

Exploration efforts up to this point indicate that Nepal is certainly a potential country for major mining of gold and other metallic minerals in the future. The traditional alluvial gold mining in major rivers and the recent discovery of primary gold in Darchula, Baitadi and Rolpa are encouraging news for foreign investors.

Locals commonly pan gold from the the river gravel/sediments from major rivers of Nepal such as Mahakali, Jamari Gad, CHamliya, Karnali, Rapti, Bheri, Phagum Khola, Lungri Khola, Myagdi Khola, Madi, Kaligandaki, Marshyangdi, Budigandaki, Sunkoshi and Bangabagar.

Primary gold occurrences are found from Bamangaon, Jamarigad, Gorang Bangabagara and areas of Lungri Khola which are to be fully evaluated when more detailed exploration of the precious metal takes place.

For now, much of the gold mined in the country is found by artisanal miners using primitive methods to extract fine placer gold from the rivers and streams".

I am an exploration geologist (mostly gold) and if I was younger I would have been interested. Conditions are not particularly easy, and used to be very difficult - streams can be pretty wild. In the early 1970s I met an Indian geologist when I was walking north from Trisuli Bazaar, north of Dunche towards Langtang. He was neatly dressed and carrying a briefcase, wearing a white shirt and long trousers (quite unlike your average Aussie geologist of the time). I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was working on a zinc prospect to the north. I asked if they were using a chopper, and he said yes, but as a mere geologist he had to walk back to Kathmandu every time he took leave. I asked him how long the walk was, and he said about 5 days each way...... :awful:

From the topography Nepal it would be one of the hardest places on earth to start an operational mine if there were reef gold there or underground deposits due to there being no good roads and the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes.Much like Bolivia and Peru but a lot of gold was mined there by the Spanish.If there were lots of big nuggets found in Tibet there must be still undiscovered reef sources still there today and I bet the Chinese have discovered these sources and producing gold today-that's why they invaded Tibet for it mineral wealth which was virtually untouched in the past due to lack of technology.
We have a geologist in the family and also holds an Honors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and works as a ground water engineer up at Cloncurry and has worked all around Australia.He declined a job up in the Papua NG highlands recently as he has a family in Melbourne.He recently trekked to Everest Base Camp from the nearest large town and complained there was too much lama droppings on the tracks so I expect working there as an Exploration Geologist would be very interesting and rewarding as a satisfying lifestyle but can have the said occupational hazards.