OUR MINERAL RESOURCES-THE MOST NEGLECTED SECTOR Pakistan Atomic - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

OUR MINERAL RESOURCES-THE MOST NEGLECTED SECTOR

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

2/25 October 2018

SEQUENCE

 Classification of Natural Resources  Importance of Minerals  Mineral Potential of Pakistan  Valuable Minerals of Pakistan  Mineral Map of Pakistan  Global Mineral Resources vs GDP Growth  Pakistan’s Mineral Resources vs GDP Growth  Role of PAEC’s Mineral Sector  Expertise of PAEC in Development of Mineral Sector  PAEC’s Contribution  Benefits of Developing Mineral Sector  Way Forward

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CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

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Natural Resources Renewables Resources Non-Renewables Resources

Energy (wind, solar, geothermal, tidal) Plants & Animals Minerals Fossil Fuels Soil & Water Air & Water

IMPORTANCE OF MINERALS

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• Mineral resources play significant role in Socio-economic development.
• Minerals provide 95% of energy resource and 75% industrial raw material.
• Development of USA, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia etc. is mainly due to

mineral resources.

• Development of England in 18th century was due to iron & coal discovery.
• In Middle East, the oil & gas production changed their life style.
• In Pakistan, the contribution of Mineral Sector to GDP is only 0.5% to 1.0%,

which needs to be enhanced.

MINERAL POTENTIAL OF PAKISTAN

• Pakistan is reportedly blessed with abundant mineral resources.
• Some

mineral sector departments are GSP, PMDC, BDA, SDA, PUNJMIN, etc.

• Hidden bonanza is yet to be encountered and exploited.
• Multinational companies assistance in discovery of oil & gas is laudable.
• Exploration & mining of copper, gold, iron, chromite, and rare earth

elements (REEs) etc. can play vital role in economic development.

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VALUABLE MINERALS OF PAKISTAN

October 2018

Metallic Minerals : Copper, Chromite, Lead, Zinc, Antimony, Iron ore etc. Precious Minerals : Beryl / Emerald, Corundum / Ruby , Topaz, Peridot, Garnet etc. Dimension Stone : Marble, Granite and Serpentine Fuel Minerals : Coal, Hydro-carbon (Petroleum, Natural gas) Industrial Minerals : Limestone, Clay, Phosphate, Rock salt, Gypsum, Barite, Graphite, Calcite, Silica sand etc. Radioactive Minerals : Uranium and Thorium Rare Earth Mineral : Chevkinite, Bastinisite, Monazite etc.

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October 2018

MINERAL MAP OF PAKISTAN

Chitral

(Copper, Gold, Silver)

Sellai Patti, Malakand Swat

(REEs, Zircon, Emerald)

Waziristan

(Copper, Iron, Chromite)

Zhob

(Copper, Chromite)

Pishin

(Copper, Antimony)

Dalbandin

(Iron, Copper)

Chagai

(Iron, Copper, Gold)

Khuzdar

(Iron, Silver, Lead)

IRAN

Pab

(Lead, Zinc, Chromite)

ARABIAN SEA AFGHANISTAN

Chiniot

(Iron, Copper, Gold)

Skardu

(Gold, Emerald, Ruby)

Mardan

(Topaz, REEs)

Tangir

(REEs)

Gilgit

(Molybdenum)

Kohistan

(Chromite, Gold)

CHINA

Thar Block

(Coal)

Lakhra Block

(Coal)

Salt Range, Kohat-Potwar Plateau

(Oil & Gas, Coal, Salt, Limestone, Gypsum, Iron)

Sulaiman-Kirthar Belt, Sindh Planes

(Oil & Gas, Limestone)

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Top 10 Mining Economies (2014)

Mining’s contribution to low- and middle-income economies, Magnus Ericsson and Olof Löf, WIDER Working Paper 2017/148, United Nations University, Jun 2017 Source:

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2 4 6 8 10 12 14 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Production Value (% of GDP) Production Value (Billion USD)

Production Value (USD Billion) Production Value (% of GDP)

Pakistan: Production Value = $7.2 Billion % of GDP = 2.9% (including Oil & Gas)

Five Highest Mining GDP (2014) Countries - (Share in total GDP) 

China



Australia



Russia



USA



India

$107 billion (0.61%) $405 billion (2.4%) $69 billion (1.9%) $121 billion (11.9%) $61 billion (0.9%) Mining’s contribution to low- and middle-income economies, Magnus Ericsson and Olof Löf, WIDER Working Paper 2017/148, United Nations University, Jun 2017 Source:

Pakistan $7.2 billion (2.9%)

(including Oil & Gas)

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PAKISTAN’s MINERAL RESOURCES vs GDP GROWTH

October 2018

• Mineral potential has yet to contribute its sizable share in national economy.
• RekoDiq deposit is an example which is still to be exploited.
• Mining and quarrying sector grew by 3.04%* in 2017-18 as against 0.38%

in 2016-17.

• Some major reasons for under-utilization of minerals wealth of Pakistan are:
• Scarcity of reliable database
• Lack of requisite infrastructure
• Non conducive environment for foreign investment
• Lack of skilled manpower
• Lack of modern mining and processing (value addition) techniques

*Ref: Pakistan Economic Survey 2017-18, Finance Division Govt. of Pakistan”,

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ROLE OF PAEC’s MINERAL SECTOR

October 2018

• PAEC is mandated to exploit indigenous Nuclear Raw Material for its

Fuel Cycle program.

• Has developed a well-integrated mineral program:
• State of art facilities like remote sensing, airborne, drilling etc.
• Modern

broad-based analytical chemistry and mineralogical laboratories

• Self-sufficient in expertise, capabilities & capacity for its own tasks
• Has started MS level “Mineral Resource Engineering” program at PIEAS

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Capable of Satellite Data Processing, Analysis and Interpretation

Remote Sensing Data Processing Facility

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Heliborne Multiple Geophysical System

October 2018

(with Most Modern Airborne Sensors) Capable of recording Spectrometric, Magnetic and Electromagnetic data for quick assessment of mineral potential of Uranium, Copper, Gold, Silver, Iron etc.

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Exploration Activities

October 2018

Car Borne Survey Geological Activity Geochemical Sampling Rock Sampling

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Exploration Activities

October 2018

Geophysical Survey Drilling Activity Borehole Logging Recovered Core for Analysis

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MINERALOGY LABORATORIES

October 2018

Sample Preparation for Analysis

Different Stages of Thin Section Preparation Thin Section study under Polarizing Microscope

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Stereo Microscope for Mineral Identification

CHEMISTRY LABORATORIES

October 2018

XRF GAMMA SPECTROMETRY XRF SPECTROMETRY ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

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October 2018

EXPERTISE OF PAEC IN DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL SECTOR

MINING OF MINERALS

There are three major types of mining techniques.

• 1. Underground mining

(conventional)

• 2. Open-pit mining

(conventional)

• In both techniques, ore is crushed and ground in a surface mill and the

desired mineral is extracted by leaching.

• PAEC has experience of open-pit & underground mining and minerals

processing.

• 3. In-situ leach (ISL) mining (unconventional)

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October 2018

EXPERTISE OF PAEC IN DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL SECTOR

In-Situ Leach (ISL) Mining

• Most economical, quick, environment friendly, hazard free & safe method
• It is being used for recovery of U, Gold and Copper.
• It is a technique to extract the mineral from the ore underwater.
• The metal is dissolved underground into alkaline/acidic water with its physical

removal and then pumped out to the surface.

• The recovered water is processed and metal is extracted.

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PAEC has indigenously developed the ISL Mining expertise The following video shows/explains the ISL Mining operation:

IN-SITU LEACH MINING

EXPERTISE OF PAEC IN DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL SECTOR

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October 2018

SERVICES TO GOVT & PRIVATE SECTOR

Department Description of Work PUNJMIN Core Drilling for Chiniot Iron Ore (Dec 96 - Mar 97 & Jun 98 - Sept 98) NORCONSULT & WAPDA Geo-Technical Drilling & Soil investigation of Neelum-Jhelum & Kohala Hydro-Power Projects ( 1998-99) Lucky Cement & D.G. Cement Core Drilling for Ore Reserve Estimation NHA Soil Investigation & Core Drilling on Motorway M2

PAEC’s CONTRIBUTION

Some of the contribution in the National Projects is as under:

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October 2018

BENEFITS OF DEVELOPING MINERAL SECTOR

• Higher opportunity for employment
• Infrastructure development in mineral hosting area
• Socio-economic development
• Avoids migration to big cities
• Development of skilled manpower for other projects of country
• Technological developments in mineral sector
• Saving millions of dollars incurred on import of minerals
• Earning foreign exchange on export of minerals and dimension stones etc.

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WAY FORWARD

For development of mineral sector, some food for thought is as under:

• Provincial geology departments need to produce authentic geo-scientific data
• Involve national universities to develop geo-scientific data base, modern mineral

exploitation techniques especially for coal, copper and chromite

• Mineral departments may synergize their expertise and facilities
• A national level Think Tank may be established having experts in geology, mining

and mineral processing, from credible organizations including PAEC, to perform:

• 1. Evaluation of all the upcoming projects of national importance
• 2. Provide technical advice where problem arises

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WAY FORWARD

• Pakistan is exploiting effectively its limestone, gypsum & clay deposits for

cement production. By finding cheaper energy resources, still more may be exploited.

• Seek assistance from foreign mining companies for infrastructure development
• Confidence building measures to attract foreign investment
• Joint venture with foreign companies for transfer of technology - one block may

be provided to foreign consultants for mining and Pakistani engineers/scientists may exploit rest of the deposit

• Quality and safety may be an over-riding clause

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JAMIL AHMAD

DIRECTOR/CHIEF SCIENTIST (Geology)