Fact Check: Viral news claiming 100 million tons of iron ore found in Nawalparasi is old; photo and video are fake

Kathmandu (Hikmat Acharya, TechPana Fact Check): For the past few days, a post has gone viral on Facebook claiming that a 100 million-ton iron ore deposit has been discovered in Nawalparasi. The post states that the mine can meet Nepal's iron demand for 100 years and includes a video. However, a fact-check by TechPana Fact Check confirms that the news is years old, and the video is not from Nepal.

Claim
On July 18, 2025, a Facebook page called Routine of Gaindakot Band posted a video. In it, someone carrying a camera is seen entering a tunnel. The caption of the 3-minute 46-second video reads: “A large iron ore mine containing 100 million tons of iron has been discovered in Nawalparasi. It can meet Nepal's iron demand for 100 years.” (Translated). The video’s source is unspecified social media. As of writing, it has over 10,000 reactions, 256 comments, and more than 667,000 views. See original video, archive video, and screenshot.

Research
The same video and claim were shared by Media Club Nepal on June 25, 2025. That post received over 1,300 reactions, 32 comments, and more than 100,000 views. See original video, archive video, and screenshot.

A similar post was published by a Facebook page named Nepal Society News, which has nearly 5,000 views. See original post, archive post, and screenshot.

On June 24, 2025, a page called NEB Results also posted: “A large iron mine containing 100 million tons of iron has been discovered in Nawalparasi. This can meet Nepal’s iron demand for 100 years.” This post has received over 14,000 reactions, 600 comments, and 209 shares.
See original post, archive post, and screenshot.

That same day, Jokes Nepal published a post with the caption: “#WoW: The newly discovered iron mine in Nawalparasi is estimated to contain about 100 million tons of iron. This mine can easily supply Nepal with iron for the next 100 years!” (Translated) This post has over 1,700 reactions, 69 comments, and 5 shares. See original post, archive post, and screenshot.

Isha Maya Gurung, who identifies as a social activist, also shared the claim: “Do You Know: A large iron ore mine has been discovered in Nawalparasi, which contains about 100 million tons of iron. The mine is enough to meet Nepal’s iron demand for the next 100 years, but the leaders may not know its importance. What is not there in Nepal? Everything is there, but corruption destroys everything. #Nawalparasi #nepal” (Translated)

The post includes an image of excavators digging, details about that photo are mentioned below. See original post, archive post, and screenshot.

None of the viral posts provide specific details, such as when the mine was discovered, who studied it, or who published the report. Some don’t mention a date at all; others claim it’s recent. A few use AI-generated images. None disclose their sources.

We conducted a reverse image search on Google of the viral photo. The image appears in an article titled "National Mineral Policy Review – A Golden Chance for Change" published by The Wire.in on October 25, 2017. The photo source is the Press Trust of India (PTI).

It also appears in a March 23, 2018 article titled "Supreme Court mining order: NGO files plaint against former Goa CM Laxmikant Parsekar, two officials" published by The New Indian Express, again credited to PTI.

This confirms the photo is of an iron ore mine in Goa, India, not Nawalparasi and it dates back to before 2017.

We examined the video of the alleged tunnel in Nepal by extracting keyframes and performing reverse image searches using Google, Yandex, Bing, and TinEye. In the video, 5 seconds in, someone is seen shining a flashlight. No matching source was found for this frame.

At 1:36, a wooden bridge made from two planks appears. That image also yielded no official source. A person’s hand appears midway through the video, but reverse image searches returned no matches. The video ends right when the light reveals an outdoor area, possibly indicating location but it cuts off before anything useful appears. Some signs are drawn near the tunnel entrance, which could help identify the site. However, those signs are not legible in the video.

We sent the video to Dr. Ramesh Bahadur Chand, CEO of Dhaubadi Iron Company Limited, via WhatsApp. “This video is not from here (Nawalparasi),” Dr. Chand said. “I shared it with all my colleagues in the field, and they all confirmed that such a tunnel has not been found in Nawalparasi so far.”

Now, let’s examine the core claim: that 100 million tons of iron have been found and that it will meet Nepal’s iron demand for 100 years. On 13 March, 2023, Himal Khabar published a report titled “Initial work to excavate the country’s largest iron mine.”It stated: “According to initial estimates, there is more than 100 million tons of iron in this area.”

On January 13, 2020, The Himalayan Times published: “A-Class 100 million tons of iron ore in Nawalparasi.” It stated that the Department of Mines and Geology discovered this deposit.

On 8 February, 2021, Nepal Press ran a report titled: “100 million tons of iron in Nawalparasi, commercial production after three years.” It noted: “Initial studies show 100 million tons of iron in the mine. At a mining rate of 1,500 tons per day, this would last for 40 years.”

“Yes, 100 million tons have been discovered but this is not new,” Dr. Chand told us.
“The data comes from geological and chemical studies done years ago by the Department of Mines and Geology. There’s been no recent survey.”

The deposit lies between West Namjakot and East Dhaubadi in East Nawalparasi District, Gandaki Province, about 20 km north of Kawasoti. Formal studies were conducted in phases between 2069 and 2075 BS by the Department of Mines and Geology. Experts confirmed a significant deposit spanning a 10 km stretch from Namjakot to Dhaubadi.

On 21 August, 2019, the Cabinet decided to establish Dhaubadi Iron Company Limited. The company was registered on 26 September and began operations in February/March, launching Nepal’s first major effort at iron mining and processing.

Based on these facts, it is true that 100 million tons of iron ore was discovered in Nawalparasi but not recently.The claim has been made viral by recycling old news and presenting it as new. The viral photo is from Goa, India, and was taken by PTI. The video of the tunnel is also not from Nawalparasi, as confirmed by Dr. Chand. The video’s origin remains unknown.

Claim
A large iron mine of 100 million tons has recently been discovered in Nawalparasi. This mine can meet Nepal's iron demand for 100 years. A video of a tunnel and a photo of the mine have been used to substantiate the claim.

Claimants
Facebook pages and users including Routine of Gaindakot Banda, Media Club Nepal, Nepal Society News, NEB Results, Jokes Nepal, and Isha Maya Gurung.

Fact
The claim is partially true but misleading. Yes, 100 million tons of iron ore were discovered in Nawalparasi but this happened 4–5 years ago, not recently. The discovery was made by the Department of Mines and Geology after detailed study between 2069 and 2075 BS.

The photo used in viral posts is not from Nepal, it shows a mine in Goa, India, and was taken by PTI before 2017. The tunnel video is also not from Nawalparasi, confirmed by Dr. Ramesh Bahadur Chand of Dhaubadi Iron Company Limited.

Conclusion
The viral claim on social media is misleading. While it is true that 100 million tons of iron ore was discovered in Nawalparasi, this news is not recent. It has been made to seem new, creating confusion. The photo is from India, and the video has no verified link to Nawalparasi.

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