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MINERAL
RESOURCES |
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Nature has generously gifted Balochistan with nature resources. Efforts are being made for scientific exploration and exploitation of the mineral resources of the province. 2.1.Metallic
Minerals Metallic
mineral deposits discovered in Balochistan province are
copper, chromite, iron, lead-zinc and antimony.
2.1.1.Copper
Copper ores are
most commonly found in the form of sulphides, carbonates and oxides. Vast
resource of copper have been discovered by the Geological survey of Pakistan in
Chagai district of Balocistan at siandak, Koh-I-Dalil,Dasht-I-Kain,Durban Chah,
Kabul Koh, Ziarat Pir Sultan and a number of other places.Saindak deposit has
been fully evaluated and its reserves and grades
are given in Table 1.Other prospects,containing thousand of millon tons of
copper ore are waiting for evaluation. Table
1.
Reserves and grades of saindak copper deposit, Chagai district,
Balochistan.
Ore Body
Reserves (million
tons) Grade South
111
0.44 % Cu North
28
0.43 % Cu East
273
0.34 % Cu Total
recoverable metals form Saindak deposit will be 1.69 million tons of copper,2.24
million ounces of gold and 2.49 million ounces of silver, worth thousand of
million dollars. Mining
has started at Saindak porphyry copper deposit. The open-pit method of mining is
being applied for the extraction of the ore. Mining at saindak has begun in the
south ore body by opening a pit with a diameter of 1km. It will have a huge open
pit when mining is completed. Presently about 50,000 tons are being mined daily,
out of which 37,500 tons are waste material and 12,500 tons are ore which being
processed. 2.1.2.
Chromite Chromite
is an ore of chromium metal. There are a number of small deposits and
occurrences of chromite in various parts of Pakistan, hut small scale commercial
production has been almost entirely restricted to Balochistan. In the past, the
most significant and the best-known area in the whole of Pakistan was the Zhob
Valley, which had the privilege of being the only chrome ore producing center in
the country. Other occurrences of chromite in the province include those of the
Ras Koh Range in western Balochistan and Wad deposits of Khuzdar district in
southern Balochistan. The deposits are characterized by variable sizes and
forms. The ore bodies are generally small and average 5,000 to 10,000 tons. In
Wad area, chromnite is lumpy in nature and of high quality. The
Zhob Valley deposits in northeastern Balochistan are the best known, both
nationally and internationally. These deposits were first discovered by
Vredenburg (1901) during the course of regional reconnainssance mapping of
Balochistan and parts of eastern Persia. Total estimated reserves of chromite in
the province are not exactly known. However, previously one million tons of
chromite had been reported. Chromite
in Balochistan is mined by both open pit and underground methods. In vluslimbagh,
Ras Koh Range and Wad areas, chromite is mostly mined by open pit method.
However, due to the podiform nature of the chromite, underground mining is also
done. The chromite mining started in 1903 on small scale, and is continuing
today at the rate of 15, 000 20,000 tons per year. 2.1.3.
Iron Although
a number of minerals contain iron in varying proportions and in different
combinations, only a few serve as ores of iron. Important ores of iron are
hematite, magnetite, siderite, and in some cases limonite and laterite. Hematite
is by far the most important, and furnishes about 95
percent of all the iron ores. Several
deposits of iron ore have been found in Chagai district of Ba]ochistan. Most of these are fairly rich in iron but small in size. Notable
deposits of iron ore occur at Pachin Koh, Chigendik, and Chilghazai in Chagai
district and Dilhand area of Kalat district. Total estimated iron ore reserves
are about 273 million tons (Table 2). Table
2. Reserves and grades of iron ore deposits in
Balochistaii.
Deposit
Rescrves(million tons)
Grade
Pachin
Koh 45
35-48 % Fe Mining
of these ore deposits has not yet started. However, open-pit, underground and
strip-mining methods can be applied for the extraction of these deposits. Strip
mining method, not introduced anywhere in Pakistan so far, can be applied at the
Chigendik iron deposit which is flat in form and has very thin layer of
verburden. Strip mining is employed when the material to be extracted forms a
flat-lying layer just beneath the surface. This method is widely’ used in
mining of iron. The mining methods involve removal of the overburden to expose
the u-on ore. The waste rock is dumped to the rear, and the mining continues
along a strip that extends as far as practical. A new strip is then started
parallel to the first and the waste from this second strip is dumped on the
preceding one. 2.1.
Lead -Zinc Lead
and zinc ores are present in nature in the form of sulphides. A number of
lead-zinc occurrences have been identified in Lasbela and Khuzdar districts.
Three of these occurrences, at Duddar, Gunga and Surmai, have been evaluated by
the Geological Survey of Pakistan. Total reserves of lead-zinc, estimated so
far, stand at over 23 million tons (Table 3). Drill exploration of other known
showings will substantially increase the reserve base. Table
3. Reserves and grades of lead -
zinc deposits in Balochistan.
Deposit
Reserves (million tons)
Grade
Duddar
>10
13.4 %
Ph-Zn
Gunga
10
8.0 % Ph-Zn
Surmai
2.93
6.5 % Pb-Zn Mining
of lead-zinc will start in the near future and the ore will he extracted by
underground mining method. PASMINCO, PMDC and BDA have signed an agreement for
development exploration and evaluation of the ore. 2.1.5.
Antimony Antimony
is found in nature either in native form or sulphide or oxide of the metal.
Antimony ore is found near Qua Abdullah. These occurrences are small and the
total estimated reserves are about 55 tons. Mining has been sporadically done in the past by small scale open-pit and underground methods. Only a few tons of ore are being mined annually at present.
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