World famous sapphire from Padder mines still await full-fledged scientific exploration
JAMMU, August 30:
The world famous sapphire mines of Padder in Kishtwar district can shore up the coffers of a cash strapped Jammu and Kashmir.
However, a half-hearted approach for the scientific exploration of the mines has left them unexploited to the fullest.
In the absence of a full-fledged exploration of the Sapphire deposits, the government has failed to generate the revenue, which can make Jammu and Kashmir a self-reliant economy.
“Around 2022, a 20-year lease to the Jammu and Kashmir Mining Department (JKMD) had ended. Subsequently, a new lease was granted to Mining Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL), a government of India public sector unit. However, things have not moved in the right direction since then,” said officials
“The MECL had conducted a survey and raised a demand for a 44-km-long road up to the sapphire mines. Though work had been taken up but the full-fledged scientific exploration still remain a distant dream,” said officials.
The sapphire mines are situated 5,000 metres above the sea level, 40 to 45 kilometres from Machail, a famous Hindu shrine in Padder area of the Kishtwar district.
In absence of a proper scientific exploration, the illegal extraction by local smugglers had also been a cause of concerned for the J&K administration.
“Over the years a police post was set up at Padder and some cops were posted there. The move did put a curb on illegal exploration and checked smuggling of the raw sapphire to a considerable extent, full scientific exploration has not been possible due to varied reasons,” they added.
The area is close to a glacier and one can trek to the area only during summers to search for the raw sapphire.
The demand of the unique sapphire from Padder mines could be judged from the fact that on May 17, 2013, a 19.88 carat cushion-shaped sapphire from Paddar, called Star of Kashmir, had smashed all records after it was sold for $3,483,017 (nearly ₹20 crore) at an auction in Geneva.
“The Khan area of Paddar has presence of sapphire and ruby like precious gems in different adits, mostly in corundum form. All we need is a serious approach to explore these mines,” said another official.
The MECL should take these mines seriously, use best machinery and experienced work force for full-fledged scientific exploration, he added.
The J&K government has not only been unable to tap the mines fully due to inadequate technical knowhow but has also been losing precious and rare gemstones to smugglers.
In 2008, the JKML had got ₹1.32 crore in an auction of 11.5 kg of sapphire corundum.
Located at an altitude of 4,742 metres above sea level, a 116-km stretch in the Padder valley is estimated to have a reserve of sapphire worth ₹10,000 crore.
With intense velvet peacock blue colour sapphire found in Paddar mines is considered finest in the world.