KARACHI-SSindh Caretaker Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Mir Khuda Bakhsh Marri on Thursday announced that an assessment survey of the mineral resources found in the province would be carried out to determine their quantity, quality and monetary value.
Addressing a press conference here at the Sindh Secretariat, said the entire country, including Sindh, was rich in mineral resources, which could be exploited to strengthen the national economy. He said that the Sindh Department of Mines and Mineral Development would conduct the survey of the mineral resources present in the entire province, including Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Hyderabad, Thatta, Jamshoro, Badin, Khairpur and Tharparkar districts and its findings would be made public.
The department would also arrange visits of the experts from geology departments of all the universities of Sindh, representatives of departments of environment and tourism, media, experts from countries with mineral resources and other stakeholders to asses that how much financial benefit could be obtained from the mineral resources annually, he added.
Mir Khuda Bakhsh Marri said that the Department of Mines and Mineral Development was moving towards digitization to make mineral exploration, mining permission and other processes transparent. “The digitization will not only make complete information of the mineral resources accessible but also make the process to submit complaints against illegal mining and other issues as well as suggestions regarding exploitation of mineral resources to the department concerned easy,” he added.
“The mining contractors are getting rich while the laboreurs are getting poorer so it is necessary to strike a balance between the two,” he observed, adding that institutions should be established in areas concerned for welfare, health and education of workers. He said that the Mines and Mineral Development Department would organize a seminar in which samples of all the minerals of Sindh would be displayed before the international and foreign experts, researchers, academicians, industrialists, traders and other stakeholders to assess that “whether we should mine those minerals ourselves or through public private partnership”.
The minister said the department had issued 798 mining permits in the province so far and action would be taken against illegal mining. Secretary Mines and Mineral Development Agha Abdul Rahim Pathan and other officers were also present at the occasion.