Faiza Tehseen

A robust mining sector in Pakistan is crucial to boost exports and cut dependency on costly imports.

"Local processing and value addition of the mining outcrop can also fetch high profits, besides helping to cut the cost of imported finished goods and the production cost domestically. So, strengthening the mining sector is not an option but an economic necessity,” stressed Abdul Bashir, chief geologist at Koh-i-Daleel Mining Company Private Limited.

Speaking to WealthPK, he said that the mineral sector in Pakistan is lagging due to outdated mining techniques, poor infrastructure, weak regulatory framework, and a lack of sufficient financing. “The country has yet to see large-scale mining and mineral development, particularly in the resource-rich areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan.”

“Due to a lack of sufficient investment and value addition, the contribution of the mining sector to the GDP is only 3%,” he said, and emphasised that systematic exploitation of mineral wealth is crucial for Pakistan to reduce rising input costs, ballooning trade deficit, and ensure energy security. Bashir said valuable minerals and metals like iron and copper were used in steel production and electrical wiring.

He further said rare earth elements were widely used to produce high-tech gadgets, including computers, smartphones, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and power storage batteries. The geologist pointed out that an average smartphone contains more than 60 types of minerals, all of which are mined. “Likewise, cement, a fundamental construction material, is made using limestone. So, mining underpins the development of the modern infrastructure.”

Bashir maintained: “Technological innovation is also not without sourcing mined materials as silicon derived from quartz is vastly used in manufacturing semiconductors. Lithium and cobalt are used in the manufacturing of rechargeable batteries. The transition to a low-carbon economy is also heavily dependent on mined materials.”  “Pakistan is rich in natural resources, including copper, gold, coal, chromite, gypsum, salt, and a variety of other industrial minerals, which need crucial investments to be tapped,” he emphasised.

Emphasising the importance of establishing modern extraction, processing, and value-addition units, Imran Babar, a miner and geologist, told WealthPK: “The establishment of special economic zones near the mining sites is a must. There is potential for establishing a multi-billion dollar mining industry in Pakistan.”

Credit: INP-WealthPk