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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
Through the 1980s, development of mining was
discouraged by
the absence of venture capital and the limited demand for
many
minerals from domestic industries. The slow development of
mining
was due in part to the remoteness of the areas where most
minerals are found, which adds greatly to the costs of
exploration, production, and transportation. Moreover,
some of
these areas have a poor reputation for law and order. By
the
early 1990s, mining was of little importance to the
economy,
despite the presence of fairly extensive mineral
resources.
Foreign companies have been invited to bid for concessions
for
mineral extraction.
Minerals include antimony, bauxite, chromite, copper,
gypsum,
iron ore, limestone, magnesite, marble, molybdenum, rock
salt,
and sulfur. Much of the mineral wealth is found in
Balochistan.
In FY 1992, mineral production included 8.5 million tons
of
limestone, 833,000 tons of rock salt, 471,000 tons of
gypsum, and
6,333 tons of magnesite. Some iron-ore deposits are of
good
enough quality for use in the country's steel plant, but
in FY
1992 production was only 937,000 tons.
The Saindak Integrated Mineral Project, managed by the
stateowned Resource Development Corporation, was developed in
the
1980s and early 1990s, but in 1993 there were as yet few
results.
Located in Balochistan, the project area contains three
separate
large deposits of copper ore, gold, iron ore, molybdenum,
silver,
and sulfur.
Data as of April 1994
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