Punjab School Of Mines: 2015

Sunday 8 November 2015

Pakistan Coal Mines and Resources

Pakistan's largest coal reserves are found in Sindh with approximately 184.623 billion tonnes.

Region	Coal (billion tonnes)
Sindh: Lakhra, SondaThatta, Jherruck, Thar, Haji Coal others	184.623
Punjab: Eastern Salt Range, Central Salt Range, Makerwal	0.235
Baluchistan: Khost-Sharig-Harnai,Sor Range/Degari, Duki, Mach- Kingri, Musakhel Abegum, Pir Ismail Ziarat,Chamalong	0.217
KPK:	0.091
AJK:	0.009
Grand total	185.175

Coal outside Duki

Duki the tehsil of district loralai in province Balochistan,is rich with high quality Coal with highest rate of extraction throughout Pakistan. Coal is the main business of the area. More than 80% of local population is directly related to the coal business. 100% conduction of the coal business is in private hands but all of them are individuals and no company has ever invested in it. Almost all the Pushtun tribes in Duki including Nasar, Tareen, Luni, Dumar and many others, do this business. Nasar tribe has much hold of this business as they are considered the master miners and businessmen. At least 3000 metric tons of Coal of different quality is transported to Punjab Province of Pakistan to be used in Brick kilns or Cement factories there. At least 1000 mines are functioning. The smallest seam in size is 6 inches and largest seam size is almost 9 feet. On average it is 3 feet. The best quality seam is known locally as " Top". Other are "Qudrathi", "Salati",etc. There are big local coal tycoons like Akbar Kamalkhail Nasar, Sardar Ansari, Sardar masoom khan tareen, Akbar Uskhail Nasar, tekadat Atha Muhammad Nasar etc. Others are small business holders locally named as Petti Tekadar because they don't own the land they extract. They just have taken it on commission from the land owner. Akhtar Muhammad nicknamed as Akhtarai forexample the biggest Petti Takadar in Lashkar area in Nasar Abad and Janan Tekadar in Janan Area.

Duki is the best ever privately run mining Valley in Pakistan.At least 50 million rupees business is done on the daily routine. more than 50% labour is from Afghanistan. Per day income of the labour on average in mining .Qudrati seem is best in Duki distrec abd more other

Musakhael Coal

Kingri sub-Tehsil of Musakhel District is located on borders of Punjab Province. Kingri area is well known for its natural proven coal reserves. In early 1980s coal exploration started but due to unavailability of proper road structure, the project was stopped. In President Musharaf's regime the road problems from Fort Minro to Kingri was met with, and now the area is connected to the rest of the country for business and travel. The area possesses two different seems, one coming from Chamalang and other from Duki. The Hills having coal are hard and supportive to mining. Fifty plus mines are now operating in the area to full fill the energy requirements of the country. Aram in Kingri has excellent coal and charcoal reserves, available just at the depth of 30 feet. The specifications of Kingri coal are as:

Contents	Value
Moisture	3.67
Volatile Matter	38.05
Ash	9.1
Fixed Carbon	54.32
Total Sulfur	5.98
Calorific Value LB	13221

The United Musakhel Mining Company (Pvt) Limited offers to investors from within the country and abroad to invest in coal mining to reduce energy crises in Pakistan. The company has 7100 Acres of coal mining area under its control, in Kingri District Musakhel.

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Mining in Pakistan

Labour working in mine

Pakistan as a country is rich in natural resources and as the process of excavation and exploration continues the extent of these vital resources keep expanding. According to many analysts, Pakistan is affluent in natural resources than any-other country. The energy surplus resource potential of the country is more than oil producing gulf countries.

Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. Pakistan possesses numerous mines, processes more than 50 minerals regularly and many are still undiscovered. So far, the minerals that have been discovered in Pakistan include coal, copper, gold, precious and semi-precious gems, iron and salt.

Geographically Baluchistan is the richest province in terms of mineral resources and possesses gold, salt, gas mines. Whereas Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa have abundance of coal and gems respectively. Government of Pakistan has developed a formal institute by the name of Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation that is responsible for the development of mining industry, exploration of new and maintenance of existing mines.

Top Five minerals mined and its sources in Pakistan are

Salt:

Khwera Salt Mines, they are one of the world’s biggest and oldest salt mines located in Khwera,Punjab. With estimated reserve of 600 million tons of salt, Khwera Salt Mines also have Lead, Chromium, Zinc, Calcium, Potassium, Manganese, Magnesium and many Sulfates.

A View Of Mine

Copper and Gold:

RekoDiq mines of copper and gold situated in Baluchistan are believed to be the world’s fifth largest copper and gold mine. With least efforts the mines have the capacity to produce atleast 170,000 tons of copper and 300,000 ounces of gold annually.

Coal:

Sindh has abundance of coal reserves with atleast 185 billion tons of good quality coal. Some cities in Punjab and Baluchistan also have small coal mines, but the major source has always been Sindh. Pakistan’s coal reserves are sufficient to produce energy without relying on any artificial mechanism and it is truly unfortunate that despite such profusion the country is still facing energy crisis.

Work In Mine

Precious and Semi-Precious Gems:

Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa is the epicenter of precious and semi-precious gems and stones found in Pakistan. These mainly include aquamarine, ruby, topaz, emerald, moonstone, garnet and many varieties of quartz. The export income that the country earns from it is more than 200 million dollars a year.

Iron Ores:

Iron Ores can be easily traced in districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. The largest deposits are found in Kalabagh, followed by Pachin Koh-Chigendik iron ore deposits of Baluchistan and some in Haripur.

The information stated above atleast testifies one argument that Pakistan is loaded with natural resources. The need of the hour is to take right steps to exploit these blessings and use them for the best of the country and its people.