Untapped Mineral Resources And Their Potential Environmental Sciences Essay

Untapped mineral Resources And Their potential difference Environmental Sciences EssayPakistan is blessed with huge mineral potential cargon coal copper, money, limestone etc. However, we induct not withal been able to promote growth and solelyeviate poverty by exploiting our mineral resources as is done by different developing countries. Our efforts for mineral training has been limited to few industrial minerals such as limestone, rock salt, stain, gypsum and a very less amount of coal for internal power multiplication.2. Our mineral resources ar enormous and emerging as a promising country for exploration of minerals. Pakistans more than 6, 00, 000 sq kms1of issuecrop argona demonstrates varied geological potential for metallic / non-metallic mineral deposits. Exploration work and geological surveys shake off confirmed our great potential in the metallic as well as industrial minerals cargon copper, gold, silver, platinum, iron, exsert, zinc, granite and marble. w hole these minerals start out got huge prospects for exporting to the initiation.3. Currently about 52 minerals2 be nether victimization save on a small crustal plate. The major contribution is of coal, rock salt, and some other industrial and body structure minerals. Value addition in the mineral sphere of influence is mainly concentrated in quintuplet whizz minerals i.e. limestone, coal, gypsum, sulphur, embrocate and torpedo. The current contribution of mineral empyrean to the GDP is about 0.5% and is likely to increase well on the outgrowth of mineral projects like Reco Diq, Duddar surface lead and Thar coal. On the government level at that place is a essential to put more serious efforts in the development of this promising prospect.AIM4. To carryout schoolwide study of the mineral resource potential of Pakistan vis a vis impediments towards their development and its ramifications on the frugal system with a capture to recommend viable response options. SCOPE5. The discourse of the paper will follow the sequence as to a lower place -Part I Mineral Resources of PakistanPart II Untapped Minerals and their PotentialPart tercet Economy and Mining of Mineral ResourcesPart IV Impediments towards the development of Mineral ResourcesPart v Recommendations for practicable Response OptionsConclusionPART Imineral RESOURCES OF PAKISTAN6.3Mineral resources for a country atomic number 18 like a wealth and Pakistan by the grace of Allah Almighty is gifted with enormous mineral resource potential. forthwith 52 minerals ar under exploitation but the major takings is of coal, rock salt and other industrial minerals. The value addition in the mineral sector is mainly concentrated in five principal minerals i.e. limestone, coal, gypsum, sulphur, oil and natural plash. Mining industry in Pakistan is dominated by the public sector through Federal and Provincial development corporations. The public exploit corporations such as PUNJMIN is i nvolved in the mining of 8 minerals, Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation in 11 minerals, FATA Development Corporation in 10 minerals, Balochistan Development Authority in around 40 minerals, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Development Authority in 4 minerals and Azad Kashmir Mineral and Industrial Development Corporation in 12 minerals .7. Foreign investors be mainly from china out-of-pocket to their historic friendship with Pakistan. Besides this, there has been little or investment in mineral exploration. So far whatever development has occurred is restricted to simple technologies and overseas investors without investing in the neo management and technological fields. Consequently mineral exploitation contributes plainly 0.5% of GDP4. Realizing the vast potential of the mineral sector, there is a great opportunity for the multinational companies to invest in this sector and be in effect(p) to our economy as well as themselves.8. Top Fifteen Minerals of Pakistan5a. Aluminiumb. ent reat Orec. Copperd. Chromite Oree. zinc / Leadf. Coalg. Gypsum / Anhydriteh. Phosphatesi. Rock Saltj. Solar Saltk. Magnesitel. Limestone for limem Kaolin (China Clay)n. construction stones i.e. Granite, Marble and Onyxo. Gemstones9. Mineral Resources in Punjab6a. Iron ore. Large iron ore deposits ar present in Punjab. major deposits ar in Kalabagh(Mianwali zone).b. Coal. In Punjab coal is present in Salt be adrift. Coal deposits in this neighborhood ar 235 million scores with average quality coal.c. Gypsum. Punjab stands 2nd in gypsum reserves. major(ip) deposits in Dadukhel ar about 53 million hemorrhoid. Other major reserves are in Khewra and D.G. Khan.d. Salt. Salt deposits are mainly effectuate in the salt Range. Rock salt is mined at Khewra, Warcha, Kalabagh, Bhadurkhel, Jatta, karak ,Chakwal and Khushab mines. tally to Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, reserves of rock salt are around 600 million rafts.e. Lime stone. Lime mark is present in salt Range Pot war Plateau, Margalla Hills and Zinda Pir (Attock) in large deposits.f. Aluminium. It is constitute in Khushab district,but graded as low quality Aluminium.g. Calestine. Celestite is apply in flares, tracer bullets, warning fuses and fire-works. It is base in Daud Khel.h. cancel oil. All major oil fields are set(p) in potowar plateau. A brief description is presumption In following turn off-i. Natural gas. Major gas resources are in Uch beneficial Multan and Adhi in Rawalpindi district, supplying a gas of 18Mcf/day .j. Marble. Main marble reserves are in Dalbandin Hills in Attock District10. Mineral Resources in Sindh7a. Coal. Pakistan has total coal reserves of 185 billion tons, out of which 184 Billion tons are in Sindh. It is one of the biggest substantially quality lignite deposits in the ball.b. Salt. Bright prospects exist for the development of senior high purity solar salt facility around the coastal areas of Karachi.c. Limestone. It is found in Kot Diji, Ranipur, G anjo Takkar, Murli Hills, mango tree Pir and Cape Monze.d. Aluminium. In Sindh Aluminium is found in Kirthar Nits.e. Carbonate Soda. Present in large bill in Nawabshah, Umerkot ,Nara Taluka( Khaipur) and Shah Bandar.f. Calestine. The estimated reserves are 300,000 tons. In Sindh, Calestine deposits are found in Thana Bula Khan.g. China Clay. It is found in Nagar Parkar (Tharparkar) and used in cement, paper, rubber filter manufacturing.h. Natural Oil. There are three renowned oil fields in Sindh which are briefly described in tabular form below-i. Natural Gas. In Sindh Natural Gas is found in Khairpur, Kandkot , Mari, Golarchi and Khaskheli.11. Mineral Resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa8a. Chromite. vexs in Dargai (0.7 Mt), Heroshah (0.1 Mt) have been proven. as well in Pattan and Chilas areas prospects appear to contain 0.2 Mt reserves.b. Coal. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa there is no large deposit of coal. twain small ones are briefly described in tabular form-c. Bauxite. Bauxite ismai nly found in Hazara District. expand are as under -d. Gypsum. The largest gypsum reserves in Pakistan are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which are primarily found in D.I.Khan and Kohat districts.e. Phosphates. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa contains Cambrian sedimentary phosphates mainly in Abbottabad.f. Magnesite. In Abbottabad established reserves around 11 million tons geological 3 million tons mineable containing acceptable 46% 47% milligram oxide are present.g. Limestone. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and no.thern Areasthe average annual production of limestone is 8697 Metric tons.h. China Clay. Presently the major production comes from shah Dheri, Swat ..i. Marbles. Marbles of different classifications occur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Areas. 158 million tons out of 160.2 million tons of marble reserves, are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.j. Gem Stones. Pakistan ranks amongst leading gem-hosting countries. Emerald, Ruby, Pink Topaz and Peridot are found in Hunza and AJK.k. Soap Stone. Its deposits are in Sherwan and Abbottabad districts. Soap stone is used in Ceramics and gunk industries.12. Mineral Resources in Balochistan9. Out of 50 minerals being mined 40 are being apply in Balochistan-a. Aluminium. Large deposits are in Kalat, Ziarat and Loralai districts. Khakhan-China spring mine in Loralai district produces 2000 tons annually.b. Iron Ore. More than 903.4 million tons of iron ores are found in Pakistan and potential ore deposits in Balochistan are the followingCopper. The significance of copper resources of Pakistan is widely known.Copper reserves are present in Saindak and Reko-diq in Balochistan.d. Chromite Ore. Major deposits are found in Muslim Bagh, Noshki, Ras-koh, Dilbadin and Khuzdar districts.e. Zinc. The Jurassic rocks of the Lasbela Khuzdar Belt have the potential to host several(prenominal) public class zinc lead ore deposits. Zinc deposits in Duddar Gunga are estimated over 160 million tons.f. Coal. In Balochistan about 217 million tons of coal is estima ted. Thse Resources are distributed in Hamai, ,Duki ,Mach-Abegum Pir Ismail Ziarat read out khan Chamalang.g. Natural Gas. Total Natural gas reserves in Pakistan are estimated at about 31 trillion cubic feet. In the Province of Balochistan, the reserves are in Pirkok, Sui ,Mazarani, Golarchi.h. Manganese. Manganese is found in Lasbela and Khuzdar and estimated reserves are 0.477 million tons.i. Limestone. In Balochistan average annual production of limestone is 8697 Metric tons.j. Magnesite. In Balochistan it is found in Muslim bagh and Bela.k. Gypsum. According to geological survey of Pakistan, about 2000 million ton gypsum resources are present in different areas of Balochistan.l. Antimony. Antimony deposits have been sporadically mined near Qila Abdullah in district Pishin of Balochistan.m. Marble. Large deposits of marble are present in Balochistan, about 2 million ton high quality Marble is present in Chagai district.n. Gems. Discoveries in Chagai, Panjgur, Kalat and Killa A bdullah.o. Aragonite. It is found in Khuzdar and Loralai.PART IIuntapped MINERAL RESOURCES AND THEIR POTENTIAL13. Despite the fact that Pakistan is bestowed with huge mineral potential the overall contribution of this sector in GDP is merely 0.5%, which warrants extensive efforts to harness this unexplored wealth. The untapped mineral resources are discussed in subsequent paragraphs10-a. Platinum. The Chilas rock body with indications of Platinum and Platinum-group elements occurrences belongs to the largest basic intrusions in the world which are continuously exposed. likewise area between Jijal and Patan, Allai in Kohistan and Malakand Agency, west of Dargai bears Platinum and Platinum-group elements.b. Antimony. Antimony is an important metal which is used for making and antimony salt is used in the production of safety matches, in percussion caps of cartridge and in tracer bullets. Antimony reserves have been recently find by GSP in Kharan district. Present estimates of on t ap(predicate) ore are 26,000 tons and the antimony content of the ore varies from 7 to 12% (Hussain, 1974).c. Copper. Copper is used in galvanic industry, automobiles, airplanes, conductors and circuit breakers due to its high electrical and thermal conductivity and strength. Geological Survey of Pakistan has discovered copper at Saindak, Dasht-e-Kain, Missi and Ziarat Pir Sultan.Massive sulphide type copper deposits have been reported from Chagai, Lasbela and Khuzdar districts. Mineral deposits at Saindak are in table-1 and estimated recoverable quantities of different metals are reflected in table-2.Table 1 Saindak Copper militia11DepositReserves(million tones)(% of copper)South Ore Body1110.430East Ore Body2730.340North Ore Body280.440Table 2 Estimated Quantities of Metals and their Values12MetalsCurrent Price(In USS)Value(in million USS)Copper 1.69 million tones2000 / tones3,380.00Gold 2.24 million ounces387 / oz867.00 currency 2.49 million ounces5.0 / oz12.45d. Gold. In t he present day world along with its major consumption in Jewelry, gold is being used as an important industrial metal alike. In the Chagai area, Geological Survey of Pakistan has set at least 12 porphyry type deposits which may contain appreciable quantities of gold along with copper and silver. as well as clusters of gold and silver have also been discovered in Drosh district Chitral ,Sargodha, Mansehra and Muzaffarabad.e. Iron. Iron is used for making steel and a number of other alloys. Many small and large deposits of iron ore have been found in Dilband, Chilghazi, Chigendil and Pachin Koh districts of Balochistan. The iron ore deposits recently discovered by the GSP at Uthal appear to be of economical value. Estimated iron reserves and quality are given in Table-3.Table 3 Iron Reserves and Quality of Iron Ores in Balochistan13SerArea / LocalityReserves(million tons)QualityChemicalMineralogical1.Dilband, Kalat District25040-60%Sedimentry ore with dominant heamatite2.Chagai District (Chigendil, Pachin Koh, Chilghzi)8520-55%Magnetite.3.Uthal Lasbela District, BalochistanNot estimatedUp to 45%Metamorphie ore with predominant magnetive.Total -335f. Lead Zinc. Lead and Zinc metals form important alloys having varied uses in industry and ammunitions. The geological Survey of Pakistan has discovered several deposits of lead and Zinc ore in Lasbela Khuzdar region of Balochistan. Deposits at Gunga, Surmai and Duddar have been investigated in some details by GSP and are expected to be around 10 million tons each.g. Chromite. Chromite is mainly used in the fictionalisation of stainless steel and as refractory hearty. Chromite is found in Zhob, Killah Saifullah, Chagai, Kharam, Khuzdar and Lasbela districts as podiform type. A total production of 25,735 tons was achieved during the year 2002-2003.h. Manganese. Manganese ores are found in Lasbela, Khuzdar, Chagai and Zhob districts. The manganese occurrences in Chagai district are found as coating and film in the quartz veins cutting limestone beds. A total of 580,500 tons of manganese ore has been estimated in various deposits. The average range of manganese content is 8.2% to 50.56%.i. Fluorite. It is mainly used as flux in steel making and is the only source of fluorine which is required for hydrofluoric acid and other fluorine compounds. Fluorite is found in Maran, Dilband and Pad Maran areas. The reserves are estimated over 0.1 million tons .j. Gypsum and Anhydrite. Balochistan has very large reserves of gypsum/ anhydrite found at spintangi and Chamalang. Estimated gypsum reserves are given in table . 4.Table 4 Major Gypsum Deposits of Balochistan14.Deposits/LocalitiesReserve of million of tonsInsoluble%R2O3%CaO%MgO%SO3H2O%CaSO42112O%CaSO4%SpintangiRange epitome0.50.300.5032.300.6847.3018.20High Gypsum0.600.4032.670.3247.4419.10k. Baryte. The baryte deposits are located in the area between Uthal and Khuzdar. Deposits at Gunga near Khazdar and Daddar in Lasbela dirtrict are estimat ed over 12 million tons. The production from indigenous deposits meets the total requirement of baryte for oil well bore and barium based chemical plants of the country.l. Dimension and Decorative Stones. The ones most commonly used are onyx marble and granite. Marble is used in building facings, bathrooms and floor tiles / handicraft items. Onyx marble of high quality is found in Chagai District / Gilgit Baltistan. Granite occurs in Chagai , Zhob, Kila Saifullah and Lasbela.m. Gemstones. Northern areas are marked by GSP as ruby-bearing marble zone. Similarly in Swat district few deposits are expected of gemstones.n. Limestone. Pakistan has vast resources of limestone extending from the coastal region near Karachi to as far north as the Chagai and Zhob. These rocks generally contain over 80% calcium carbonate,less than 5 %silica and less than 1% iron oxide making them suitable raw material for the cement manufacturing.o. Coal. According to estimates prepared by GSP, Pakistan has to tal coal reserves of 185 billion tons, out of which 184 billion tons are in Sindh. One of the biggest good quality lignite deposit is in Thar, Thar coal is of relatively good quality and is likely to be operational by Dec 201315.There are six coal areas in Balochistan where coal mining activities are in progress i.e. Harnai, Duki, Daghari, Pir Imail Ziarat, Mach and most recently in Chamalang area but it has been abandoned due to a tribal conflict. The coal resources of Balochistan are described below-Table No. 5 Summary of Coal Resources of Balochistan (Million tons)16S.NoCoalfieldProvedIndicatedInferredHypot-heticalTotalMineable(1)Khost Shahrig Harnai1363768(2)Sor Range Daghari151916509(3)Duki141125508(4)Mach Abegum914235(5)Pir Ismail Ziarat2281212(6)Chamalang1560.6Total-54131341621732p. Gas17. Zin block is touch by major natural gas producing fields of Pirkoh, Loti, Sui and Uch. 22 trillion cubic feet of projected gas reserves are expected in Kohlu district, therefore OGDCL has applied for security cover for four licenses i.e. Kohlu, Jandran, Jandran western and Kalchas. OGDCL is the largest upstream company in the country , as of December 2010 it holds 48 percent of the countrys recoverable oil reserves and 37 percent of the countrys recoverable gas reserves.PART IIIECONOMY AND MINING OF MINERAL RESOURCES14. Growing demand for mineral resources such as aluminium, nickel, copper and zinc by developing markets in Asia has contributed to a surge in mineral prices. Driven by the prospect of higher revenues, developing countries are increasingly turning to their minerals wealth as a source of growth and new economic development opportunities18.15. The extractive industry sector is very diverse. Classification may refer to scale of operation, nature of activity (underground, off-shore, open-cast, etc.), material extracted (industrial minerals, gemstones, precious metals, oil and gas etc), utility (energy, metallic and non-metallic) or degree of capitalizatio n. However, the unique feature of all extractive operations is that the resource being extracted is non-renewable. Therefore goal of non-renewable resource exploitation, should be the conversion of natural capital into other forms of capital. In terms of scale, there are three general levels of extractive operation as under19-a. Large ordered series. Capital-intensive and multinational companies use extraction and processing technologies that require high levels of investment and skills. Significant revenues, economies of scale and efficiencies result from these operations.b. Medium Scale. Includes state run enterprise such as national oil and gas producers and numerous expansionary juniors (with less than USD 100 million assets) in the hard rock mining sector.c. Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM). Old mining methods i.e rudimentary technology, minimal capital investment , high labour enduringness and low levels of technology for extraction and processing. It is estimated that ASM produces up to 31% of the globular production of minerals including 20% to 30% of gold, 20% of coal, 10% of diamonds and 75% of non-diamond gemstones.16. The Economics of Mining20. Minerals represent only a small unwrap of world production and global FDI flows, however their supply is essential to modern economies. Major contributions of mining in economy are-a. The contribution of Mining to Growth, Exports and Fiscal Revenues. Accurate statistics of the economic benefits derived from mining are difficult to obtain, oddly when the full scale range of the sector is considered. For example, the informal and frequently illegal nature of ASM activities results in authoritative losses of potential government revenues. Where figures are available metal exports constitute a large part of total exports for several countries like in Tanzania, mining represents 40 % of national exports, 75% of foreign carry on investments and is estimated to have contributed about 6 % of the total a nnual GDP growth rate of 4.8 % between 1996 and 2003 (ICMM / World Bank, UNCTAD, 2006a). Many governments derive a large part of fiscal revenues from the mining sector. In Botswana more than one-half of fiscal revenues are derived from mining (USGS, 2005) whereas mining accounts for 43% of government revenues in Peru (gold, copper, zinc, etc).b. The contribution of Mining to meshing and subsistence. The ILO has estimated that the mining sector employs 22 to 25 million people worldwide, approximately 1% of the total global workforce (ILO, 2007). Large-scale mining is capital-intensive activity requiring increasingly higher skills levels. The artisanal sector is coupled with the fact that mining may be pursued during periods of agricultural inactivity or underemployment. The sector often operates in brusk / remote locations so as to provide pro-poor benefits which private sector or government are otiose to provide.17. Potential of Mining to Lift the Poor Out of Poverty21. The track record of countries with the opportunity to substitute resource abundance into broader development goals is often disappointing. Resource abundance often does not translate into economic prosperity. Mineral wealth and its proper exploitation would form the basis for economic growth, poverty reduction and prolong development. However some of the most resource rich countries had the highest levels of poverty, corruption and conflict.18. The evolution of mining codes has been described as having three phases. The first has been characterized by major withdrawal of state intervention. The second places greater emphasis on the responsibilities of companies for socio-economic development. In Mali, for example companies are required to pay a tax directly to regional governments for re-allocation to topical anaesthetic communities. The third places greater emphasis on the participation of affected people and enhanced government certificate of indebtedness for environmental and social s afeguards. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for example, has made provision to ensure revenue dispersal to those directly impacted by mining companies (60% of royalties remain with the central government, 25% go to the provinces and 15% to the federation where the mining occurs (CASM, 2007).PART IVIMPEDIMENTS TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES IN PAKISTAN19. The detailed overview only helps to ascertain that the mineral deposits of Pakistan are huge but there seems a host of factors which are hindering the development of minerals. taking a 360 degree view, there are internal as well as external impediments and also issues like environmental hazards and lack of technology. Each of these are discussed in succeeding paragraphs.20. Internal Impediments. Some of the impediments confront by Pakistan internally are as under-a. Understaffing of Mineral Department. Minerals department is critically understaffed. There is only one mine inspector for the whole district and only one Assistant Director of license to look after the licenses issues in the whole region. Hence the officials are unable to visit the mine sites and monitor the progress.b. neediness of Technology. There is visible lack of technology available for the miners, since most of the mine owners are middling to small scale. The mining carried in the country is still based upon the century old techniques.c. Lack of straight-laced Database. Inconsistency is common in the data provided by the Provincial Offices and District Offices on licenses, leases, budget, revenues, etc. regional offices are not very reliable and do not help towards well-informed policy initiatives.d. Lack of interest of the foreign investors. Although the FDI inflow in mining and quarrying sector in Pakistan has increased yet deteriorating constabulary and order situation and poicies are proving to be major barriers against the inflow of FDI specially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.e. certification of Te nure. Another important issue faced by the miners is the lack of security of tenure. The government can take away the lease any time citing agents of low extraction, slow work progress etcetera and this reason alone is enough to deter investment. The mineral development Act of 1948 is still in place which also needs to be addressed.f. Weak Coordination and Non Transparency. Mineral department is not only weak in coordination due to nonexistence of proper policy but is also non transparent at times i.e. ignoring the mandatory requirement for grant of licenses and leases under political influence. Employees Old Age Benefit Institute (EOBI)22is a case in point. The contractors also accuse that some officials of regional directorate bypass the rules and regulations and ignore the merit due to their vested interests.g. tribal Rivalries. In mineral rich areas tribes are mostly working against each other so as to gain control over the mineral resources in that particular region. Resultant ly the exploration work is stalled, since no foreign company would like to work in a hostile environment.h. Deteriorating Law and Order Situation. Owing to GWOT the law and order situation of the country is not very encouraging for local as well as foreign investors. Most of the mineral rich areas are either under conditions of unrest or located in the close vicinity, thereby precluding any chance of exploration work.i. Role of Government23. The responsibility of the mineral exploitation rests with duality of control between provincial and federal governments. Constitutionally, government of Pakistan has defined its role for thermonuclear minerals, oil and gas while solid minerals whether they are in the Federal territory are the root of provincial government. The concern of government of Pakistan for agriculture which relates to the curst of the earth is not likewise in the minerals.j. in the public eye(predicate) Sector Corporations. The public sector corporations which were cr eated to undertake R D and disseminate/ transfer such cognition and experience to the private sector have focused their attention on maximizing the revenue generation even at the cost of disregarding the safety measures.Lk. Beneficiation R D24. The engineering science universities as well as geological departments which have the high level of talent and manpower are not being utilized for R D in the mineral sector due to which most of the talent is being wasted.21. External Impediments. Some of the impediments faced by Pakistan internally are as under-a. Role of Donor Agencies. In case of third world countries the international donor agencies like IMF, World Bank ADB etce