Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research

Infobox University
name = Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD)
established = 1948

city = Hyderabad
country = India
type = Exploration and Research
website = http://www.amd.gov.in
Director = Dr Anjan Chaki
address = Begumpet, Hyderabad-500 016 India

Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) for Exploration and Research, with headquarters at Hyderabad and seven regional centers, is the oldest unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (India) (DAE), Government of India. AMD started functioning from New Delhi on August 10, 1948 as ‘Rare Minerals Survey Unit'. Renamed first as ‘Raw Materials Division’ and then as ‘Atomic Minerals Division’ in 1958, it was shifted to Hyderabad in 1974. On July 29, 1998 it under went the latest name change as 'Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research' to assert its status as a premier geological exploration and research organization.

AMD commenced its operations with a nucleus of 17 geoscientists which has grown to 2777 personnel today. The principal mandate of the organization is to carry out geological exploration and discover mineral deposits required for nuclear power programme of India. Professor D.N. Wadia, FRS, a doyen among Indian geologists guided the organization from its inception to 1970 as Geological Adviser to Government of India.

Apart from the headquarters, centralized laboratories and specialized groups at Hyderabad, AMD has seven regional centers at New Delhi, Jaipur, Shillong, Jamshedpur, Nagpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Two sectional offices are located at Thiruvananthapuram and Vishakhapatnam for beach sand and offshore investigations.

AMD over the past five decades has been instrumental in locating uranium resources in Singhbhum Shear Zone, Jharkhand; KPM (Domiasiat), Meghalaya; Lambapur - Chitrial and Tummalapalle, Andhra Pradesh; Gogi, Karnataka and Rohail, Rajasthan. AMD also has established vast resources of thorium in the coastal tracts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

External links

*AMD's Official Website [http://www.amd.gov.in]