ISLAMABAD,(MILLAT+APP): The government is spending Rs 131.619
million for appraisal of huge coal reserves confirmed by the Geological
Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in the year 2014 after extensive drillings started
since 2012.
“Rs 131.619 mln will be used for appraisal of newly discovered
coal resources in Badin and its adjoining areas of Southern Sindh,”
official sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told APP.
According to GSP, they said the coal deposits were estimated to be
over 1 billion tones. “The coal is of good quality and high heating value.”
Besides, the sources informed that there were substantial deposits of
gold, copper and more than 200 mln tonnes of iron ore but these could
not be exploited or utilized because of lack of infrastructure and technology.
They said efforts were also being made for exploration of tertiary
coal in Central Salt Range, Punjab aimed at meeting the growing domestic energy demand and develop coal fields and increasing power generation.
The sources said exploration of oil, gas, minerals and coal resources
was undertaken on regular basis which contributed significant discoveries
especially in oil and gas sector.
Recent geological investigations have shown that 185 billion tonnes of
coal reserves exist in different parts of the country, which could be used as a primary and inexpensive source for power generation.
“More than 184 bln tonnes deposits are located in Sindh province,
with Thar coal field being the largest followed by Thatta-Sonda, Lakhra and
Jhimpir. The coal is lignite to lignite-A to sub bituminous B&C in character
with an average heating value of 6000 BTU/lb.”
Coal is primarily classified into four major categories, or ‘ranks’
like lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. One of the most valuable content of coal is its carbon content which supplies most of its heating value.
The sources informed that further investigations were being carried
out to explore and evaluate coal deposits in Musakhel, Kingri and Toisar
Basin, Balochistan.
Answering a question, they said the mining and quarrying sector grew by
0.6 percent in 2015-16. “Estimates suggest there are copper reserves of 1.9
bln tons and 11.2 mln ounces of gold in different localities.”
They admitted that the primary reason for not getting maximum
benefit of the natural resources was the application of out-dated technologies, poor management and inadequate capital besides security situation in some areas where the bulk of the mineral resources were located.
The mineral sector of Pakistan is spread over 600,000 square kilometers
and 92 known minerals, while 52 are commercially exploited.
Presently, the sources said above 5,000 operational mines and
50,000 small and medium enterprises were producing average 68.52
mln tons per year and providing direct employment to 300,000
workers.