Government spending Rs132m on Badin coal deposits

Good quality reserves are estimated at over one billion tons

ISLAMABAD: The government is spending Rs131.619 million on evaluating large coal reserves of Badin confirmed by the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in 2014 after extensive drilling of wells.

"An amount of Rs131.619 million will be used for appraising newly discovered coal resources in Badin and its adjoining areas in southern Sindh," an official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told APP.

According to the GSP, coal deposits are estimated to be over one billion tons in these areas. The coal is believed to be of good quality and high heating value.



Separately, according to sources, there are substantial deposits of gold and copper alongside more than 200 million tons of iron ore, however, these could not be exploited because of lack of infrastructure and technology.

Efforts were also being made to explore tertiary coal in the Salt Range in Punjab, which was aimed at meeting growing domestic energy demand.

Additionally, the government is targeting to develop coal fields to increase power generation in the country. Recent geological assessments show that 185 billion tons of coal reserves are present in different parts of the country, which could be used as a primary source of power generation.



"More than 185 billion tons of coal deposits are located in Sindh with Thar field being the largest followed by Thatta-Sonda, Lakhra and Jhimpir," said a source. "Coal is lignite to lignite-A to sub-bituminous in nature with average heating value of 6,000 British thermal units per pound."

Coal is primarily classified into four major categories which include lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. One of the most valuable contents of coal is carbon which provides most of its heating value.

Sources said further research was being carried out to explore and assess coal deposits in Musakhel, Kingri and Toisar Basin.



They admitted that the primary reason for not getting maximum benefit of natural resources was the application of outdated technology, poor management and inadequate capital, alongside prevailing security situation in some areas where bulk of the mineral resources were located.

Mineral deposits in Pakistan are spread over 600,000 square kilometres with 92 known minerals while 52 are commercially exploited.

Currently, more than 5,000 operational mines and 50,000 small and medium enterprises are producing average 68.52 million tons per year and providing direct employment to 300,000 workers. APP