Mining in Pakistan

Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. Pakistan has deposits of several minerals including coal, copper, gold, chromite, mineral salt, bauxite and several other minerals. There are also a variety of precious and semi-precious minerals that are also mined. These include peridot, aquamarine, topaz, ruby, emerald, rare-earth minerals bastnaesite and xenotime, sphene, tourmaline, and many varieties and types of quartz.[1]

The Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation is the responsible authority for the support and development of the mining industry. The Gemstones Corporation of Pakistan looks after the interests of stake holders in gemstone mining and polishing as an official entity. Baluchistan has the most mineral deposits among the provinces of Pakistan, with Sindh rich in coal deposit and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa rich in gems. Oil, gas and minerals used in nuclear energy purposes are mined by the federal government. The mining of other minerals is a provincial concern. Currently around 52 minerals are mined and processed in Pakistan.[2]

Coal industry

History

Coal was first discovered across Pakistan and the rest of South Asia in the 1880s and was used by the British-owned railway companies under colonial rule. Later, post-colonial Pakistan had used coal to fuel its industry from independence to the discovery of the Baluchistan's Sui gas field in 1952 and the Toot oilfield in 1964.

Environmentalists are now concerned that Pakistan has recently discovered one low and four low to medium quality coal seams in the Punjab and plans to re-fuel its economically important cement industry with it after their oil fields have run dry. Low sulfur coal was recently reported to have been found at the Baluchistan near Quetta as well. There are reports that low a sulfur deposit has been found near Islamabad.

Sindh's Thar desert lignite mines will also be expanded soon for industrial usage too. This Thar's mine is open-cut mine. These mines are relatively safer to mine from. While Baluchistan's mines are underground mines, these are dangerous to mine from.[3]

Pakistan Baluchistan's mines have seen several accidents over the years among which the one which happened in 2011 was with the greatest number of casualties. According to one news paper the death toll rose up to 45,[4] though majority agree upon that it ranged from 40-45 people.

Special measures are being employed to reduce the resulting fly ash, carbon footprint and sulphur fume emission problems after it is burnt.

Types of coal found

Bituminous coal is a relatively hard and less sulfurous coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen and would be burnt largely on domestic fires after being turned into coke fuel.

Sub-bituminous coal is a coal whose properties range from those of lignite to those of bituminous coal and is used primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation. It is set to fuel power stations and cement works in Pakistan.

Lignite is a low-grade, sulfurous coal that is generally used in modified industrial furnaces to generate heat for boilers, coke oven heaters, brick kilns, etc.

Workings

Musakhel Balochistan (Kingri-Aram-Safa Coal fields)

  • Location- 175 km from Multan and 290 km from Quetta
  • Types of Coal- Sub-bituminous to Bituminous and Lignite
  • Total Coal Reserves- 17.5 Millions
  • Production- 56,009 Tons

Lakhara

  • Location-176 km north of Karachi, 65 km northwest of Hyderabad
  • Type of Coal-Sub-bituminous to lignite
  • Total coal resources- 38.82 million tons
  • Production- (2003–04) 217,967 tons

Dengari

  • Location- 35 km south-east of Quetta
  • Type of Coal- Sub-bituminous-A to high volatile B-bituminous
  • Total coal resources- 15.42 million tonnes
  • Production- (2003–04) 15,043 tons

Sor-range

  • Location - 16 km east of Quetta
  • Type of Coal- Sub-bituminous-A to high volatile B-bituminous
  • Total coal resources- 12.95 million tonnes
  • Production- (2003–04) 56,132 tons

Nowshera (Shaidu, Khawrai, Pethawo area)

  • oil and gas resources available

Shahrig

  • Coal field location- 160 km north-east of Quetta
  • Type of Coal- Sub Bituminous B to heavy volatile Bituminous-A
  • Total coal resources- 28.97 million tonnes
  • Production- (2003–04) 94,583 tons

Sonda

  • Coal field location- Near to Quetta
  • Type of Coal- Sub Bituminous B to heavy volatile Bituminous-A
  • Total coal resources- N/A.
  • Production- (2003–04) N/A.

Lignite industry

Production

Sindh's Thar desert and lignite mines in Kingri Balochistan will also be expanded soon for industrial usage. Special measures are being employed to reduce the resulting fly ash, carbon footprint and sulphur fume emission problems after it is burnt.

The Lignite/ Brown Coal of Kingri Coal fields in percentage from 44 - 79 Percent use in formation of Humic Acid. Usage is in high quantity. Lignite can also be a source of fertilizer and soil conditioner.

Usage

Lignite is a low grade, sulphurous coal that is generally used in modified industrial furnaces to generate heat for boilers, coke oven heaters, brick kilns, etc.

Nowadays Lignite use in humic Acid formation from last three years especially of Kingri Area of Balochistan

Uranium production

History

Pakistan has had a long history of exporting small amounts of uranium to the West. The Tumman Leghari mine in South Punjab, Baghalchur mine, Dera Ghazi Khan mine and Issa Khel / Kubul Kel mines in Mianwali District. Pakistan has recently used some in its own nuclear power and weapons programs.

World uranium output in 2005.

Mines

The Wahi Pandi, Karunuk (Sehwan), and Rehman Dhora (Aamri) mines in the, Kirthar Range, Sindh and the Shanawah Deposit, Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are being opened up to meet Pakistan's rising need for uranium, which these sources are issuing at an ore grade: 0.04% Uranium mineral purity rate. The Baghalchur site has several abandoned mines and is now being used as an industrial dumping ground.

Baghalchur is a small town in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. Baghalchur is the site of abandoned Uranium mines now being used as a nuclear dump. The residents of the area along with several Pakistani environmentalist groups are opposed to the nuclear dump being used by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), and have asked the government to invest in better techniques in the disposal of nuclear waste materials.[5]

Output

Pakistan produced about 45 tonnes of uranium in 2006.[6]

Mineral salt
Rock salt makes for some beautiful texture on the walls and the ceiling

Salt has been mined in the region since 320 BC. The Khewra Salt Mines are among the world's oldest and biggest salt mines. Salt is mined at Khewra in an underground area of about 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi). Khewra salt mine has an estimated total of 220 million tonnes of rock salt deposits. The current production from the mine is 325,000 tons of salt per annum.

Copper and gold

In Reko Diq, Balochistan, deposits of copper and gold are present. Antofagasta, the company which possesses the Reqo Diq field, is targeting an initial production of 170,000 metric tons of copper and 300,000 ounces of gold a year. The project may produce more than 350,000 tons a year of copper and 900,000 ounces of gold.[7] There are also copper deposits in Daht -e- Kuhn, Nokundi, Located in Chaghi district.

Iron ore

Iron ore is found in various regions of Pakistan including Nokundi, Chinot and the largest one in Kalabagh (Less than 42% quality), Haripur and other Northern Areas.[8]

11 February, 2015 The reserves were found in Chiniot, around 160 kilometres northwest of Lahore, by Chinese group the Metallurgical Cooperation of China. A senior provincial administrative official told AFP that initial estimates indicated 500 million tonnes of iron ore, a primary ingredient in steel making, had been discovered. The extracted iron had been tested in Swiss and Canadian laboratories, which were successful in finding 60-65 percent of it to be high grade. [9] [10]

Gems and other precious stones
See also: Gemstones of Pakistan

A number of precious stones are mined and polished for local as well as export purposes. The centre point of this operation is Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa and most recently Gilgit-Baltistan. These include actinolite, hessonite, rodingite, agate, idocrase, rutile, aquamarine, jadeite, ruby, amazonite, kunzite, serpentine, azurite, kyanite, spessartine (garnet), beryl, marganite, spinel, emerald, moonstone, topaz, epidote, pargasite, tourmaline, garnet (alamandine), peridot, turquoise, grossular, quartz (citrine & others) and vesuvianite. The export earned from these gems is more than 200 Million dollars.[11]

Accidents in mining

Mining in Pakistan is a dangerous job, especially coal mining, as safety procedures are often neglected and accidents are quite common. There is air pollution with no modern safety equipment such as breathing equipment or ventilation. Nearly all miners have lung problems and many suffer from carbonmonooxide poisoning. But the main causes of death and injury are falls from cliffs, being buried when mines collapse and being hit by falling rocks.[12]

  • On 27 January, 2019, two miners died after being hit by a trolley inside a coal mine in Balochistan's coal-rich Dukki district on Sunday morning.[13]
  • On 21 March 2011 at least 45 miners died due to an explosion in a coal mine in Surran range, some 35 km (22 mi) east of the provincial capital, Quetta.[14]
  • On 14 of February 2011, 2 Chinese engineers died in a chromite mine collapse in Qila Saifullah, Pakistan [15]
  • On 27 May 2004, 15 miners died after a gas explosion at a coal mine in Balochistan.[16]
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See also

References
  1. http://www.palagems.com/pakistanoverview.htm
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2010-07-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. http://www.nepra.org.pk/Policies/Coal%20Potential%20in%20Pakistan.pdf
  4. "'No survivors in Sorange mine collapse'".
  5. Villagers' fears of nuclear waste
  6. "World Uranium Mining 2016 - World Nuclear Association". www.world-nuclear.org.
  7. "404. Page Not Found - Bloomberg". Bloomberg.com.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2010-08-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "PM says discovery of huge reserves of iron ore could end 'begging bowl' culture - The Express Tribune". tribune.com.pk. 11 February 2015.
  10. AFP (11 February 2015). "Pakistan discovers 'huge' reserves of iron ore". dawn.com.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2010-07-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Pakistani Manifestation Condemns Deadly Mine Accident, Inaction in Retrieving the Dead". icem.org.
  13. "2 miners killed in trolley accident in Balochistan coal mine". Dawn Newspaper. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  14. "The Most Common Accidents in the Mining Industry". about.com.
  15. "2 Chinese engineers die in Pakistan mine collapse". sify.com.
  16. Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Fifteen die in Pakistan coal mine blast". timesofmalta.com.
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