Okharbot sits on the border of Malika Rural Municipality wards 3 and 4 in Myagdi. The Nepal Chhantyal Sangh names it among the district’s Chhantyal settlements, and its story is, above all, a copper story.

Trace-back

Few of our villages illustrate the Chhantyal craft as vividly as Okharbot. By local accounts its mine once employed more than 200 workers a day, who drew 7–8 dharni of copper daily from two ore bodies running 250–500 metres, with tunnels reaching 200 metres into the hillside. Mining was, as one resident put it, the traditional occupation of the Chhantyal of Myagdi. The workings were kept up until about 2028 BS (early 1970s), then abandoned for want of modern technology and because the state taxes came to outweigh what the copper earned — and the skills were never passed on to the younger generation.

A possible revival

In 2025, MS Dongyi Minerals, licensed by the Department of Mines and Geology, began exploring Okharbot anew. The geologist Ronit Poudel described a first phase to gauge the copper and to plan against environmental harm — a cautious step that has reawakened old hopes.

What people do

Day to day, the village lives by farming the hill slopes, with — as across Myagdi — many families supported by work abroad. Its exact figures and location have yet to be confirmed here.

From Okharbot? Help us record its mine, its people and its photographs through the Connect page.

Photos

Pictures of the village and its surroundings. Many are representative views of the area while we gather verified photographs — tap any photo to enlarge.

A copper bell — the metal whose mining first drew families to these slopes. Photo: Sajansharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Mt. Dhaulagiri, the great massif that watches over the homeland. Photo: Ayrahca Saaz · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The Beni–Jomsom road winding through Myagdi along the Kali Gandaki. Photo: Saddam19 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Copper mines nearby

The mining heritage that first drew families to these slopes.

Okharbot copper mine

Worked until ~2028 BS; under renewed study (2025)

One of Myagdi's largest historic copper mines, on the border of Malika Rural Municipality wards 3 and 4. By local accounts more than 200 workers once dug here daily, drawing 7–8 dharni of copper a day from two ore bodies 250–500 m long, with tunnels up to 200 m deep. Worked until about 2028 BS, it then closed for want of technology and because the taxes outweighed the income. In 2025 MS Dongyi Minerals Pvt Ltd, licensed by the Department of Mines and Geology, began a fresh study of its copper and the environmental care any revival would need.

Okharbot