Why in News?

To expedite exploration activities in the country, Geological Survey of India (GSI), has embarked upon an ambitious scheme to complete some major National level surveys by 2024: National Geochemical Mapping (NGCM), National Geophysical Mapping (NGPM), National Aero Geophysical Mapping Program (NAGMP).

NGCM

• It is an all-India programme to cover the entire surface area of the country by geochemical sampling.

• The NGCM work will generate distribution pattern of 62 elements (samples collected at 1km x 1km grid) for use in managing and developing natural resources; for application in environmental, agricultural, human health, other social concerns and to search for hidden mineral deposits.

NGPM:

• The Program have been systematically generating basic and derived maps of Bouguer (Gravity) Anomaly and IGRF corrected magnetic total field maps of the country by conducting ground gravity and magnetic surveys.

• The anomaly maps derived from the processed gravity and magnetic data provide all stakeholders a framework to design exploration strategies.

NAGMP:

First, of its kind project in the country, its objectives are to delineate concealed, deep-seated structure/ litho-units capable of hosting mineralization, delineate the extension of the existing mineralized zone, and understating shallow crustal architecture in the context of mineral occurrence.

Significance of these Programmes:

• The collation, assimilation, and integration of the data generated from the above projects and further interpretation will lead to the identification of more areas for mineral exploration in the country.

• The increased investment in mineral exploration will build a robust pipeline of prospective mineral blocks for auction.

• This will ensure the long-term viability and continuity of mining in the country taking India towards the cherished goal of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

• The data generated through this mapping activity has helped to build up the knowledge database for National Geo-scientific information, which helps in boosting mineral exploration activities, and other earth science-related socio-economic activities and programs.

[] GSI has also initiated its flagship initiative of National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) for the collation of all the geoscience data of the country involving GSI, other national organizations with geoscience as a focused activity, all the state directorate of mines and geology, the academia engaged in research and development in the domain, the CPSEs engaged in the exploration and geoscientific pursuits, and private sector agencies working in the domain.

[] It aims at integrating the collected data by GSI and similar organizations to build a repository on the digital medium entailing multiple user access.