INTRODUCTION:

Coal mining started in the British colonial era and has continued to be used by Pakistani industries after independence in 1947.Pakistan has immense reserves of various minerals and natural resources. Important minerals found in Pakistan are gypsum, limestone,chromites, iron ore, rock salt, silver, gold, precious stones, marble, copper, gems, Coal, graphite, sulphur, fire clay, silica. Pakistan has emerged as one of the leading country - seventh in the list of top 20 countries of the world after the discovery of huge lignite coal resources in Sindh.

HISTORY:
Coal was first discovered across Pakistan and the rest of South Asia in the 1880s and was used by the British-owned railway companies under colonial rule. Later, post-colonial Pakistan had used coal to fuel its industry from independence to the discovery of the Baluchistan's Sui gas field in 1952 and the Toot oilfield in 1964. Environmentalists are now concerned that Pakistan has recently discovered 1 low and 4 low to medium quality coal seams in the Punjab and plans to re-flue its economically important cement industry with it after their oil fields have run dry due to heavy over use. Low sulfur coal was recently reported to have been found at the Baluchistan near Quetta as well. There are reports that low a sulfur deposit has been found near Islamabad. Sindh's Thar Desert and Neyveli (in Pakistan) lignite mines will also be expanded soon for industrial usage to. Special measures are being employed to reduce the resulting fly ash, carbon footprint and sulphur fume emission problems after its burnt.

COAL:
Pakistan has coal resources estimated at over 185 billion tonnes, including 175 billion tonnes identified at Thar coalfields in Sindh province. Pakistans coal generally ranks from lignite to subbituminous. After witnessing a decline of 17.0 percent in 200809, the total production of coal has increased by 10.0 percent during JulyMarch 200910 over the corresponding period last year .This improvement owes to increased import of coal during the period as indigenous production of coal witnessed a decline 6.5 percent during the period under review. As a result, share of coal imports in overall availability of coal, increased from 62.2 percent in JulyMarch 200809 to 67.9 percent during current fiscal year. About 58.9 percent of total coal in the country has been consumed by the brick kilns industry whereas 39.6 percent consumed by cement industry during the period of JulyMarch 200910. The coal consumption shares of brick kilns and power sectors decreased by 2.4 percent and 35.8 percent respectively during JulyMarch 200910 against the same period last year. Due to price differential between coal and furnace oil, almost the whole cement industry has been switched over to coal from furnace oil. Operational coal mines decreased production by 15 percent from 4.12 million tonnes in 200708 to 3.49 million tonnes in 200809.

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Production of Coal (000 tonnes):

Year 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607 2007-08 2008-09 JulyMarch 200809 2009-10 3,000 1,822 4,822 Imports 950 1,081 1,578 2,789 3,307 2,843 4,251 5,987 4,652 Production 3,095 3,328 3,312 3,275 4,587 4,871 3,643 4,124 3,738 Total 4,045 4,409 4,890 6,064 7,894 7,714 7,894 10,111 8,390

3,600

TYPES OF COAL FOUND IN PAKISTAN:

Bituminous coal is a relatively hard and less sulfurus coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen and would be burnt largely on domestic fires after being turned into coke fuel. Sub-bituminous coal is a coal whose properties range from those of lignite to those of bituminous coal and is used primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation. It is set to fuel power stations and cement works in Pakistan. Lignite is a low-grade, sulfurous coal that is generally used in modified industrial furnaces to generate heat for boilers, coke oven heaters, brick kilns, etc.

COAL MINES IN PAKISTAN:

Coal has been discovered at several places in Pakistan, but it is not good quality. It is rather difficult to extract coal from the mines as the layers of coal are not thick. There are big deposits of coal at three places in Pakistan. (1) The Salt Ranges (2) The North Eastern Balochistan (3) The lower Sindh Valley. The biggest coal mine is in the Salt Range at Makarwal. Coal is also dug from Pidh in the same area. In the north eastern Balochistan, there are mines at Khost, Shahrag, Harnai, Sor, Degari, Shirin Aab, Bolan and Mach areas. A coal processing plant is also installed at Shahrag. In the lower Sindh areas at Jhimpir, Meting,L akhra and Thar are important.

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USAGE:
Coal is described as the mother of modern Industry. It is at the back of the rapid Industrial development of the great industrial powers which might not have been possible without its presence. Coal is unique among natural products in the number of uses to which it can be put. The main function of coal is to run the factories, the locomotives and the steam ships. Supplying heat for domestic purposes is of secondary importance. Apart from these, coal tar, dyes, perfumes, colour films, sewing thread and typewriter ribbons are some of the 200,000 by products derived from coal. Lignite is a low grade, sulphurous coal that is generally used in modified industrial furnaces to generate heat for boilers, coke oven heaters,brick kilns, etc.

OCCURRENCE:
Coal Mines of the Punjab 1. Salt Range Mines The coal found in these areas is of low quality. The main centres of coal in this area are Dandot and Pidh. Besides, some coal is also mined at Ara Katha, Chilaj, Pir Jahania etc. Reserves are estimated at 70 million tonnes. 2. Makarwal Coal Mines These are second important coal mines of Baluchistan. The coal found here is of poor quality and reserves are small. 3. Degari Coal Mines The coal found here is of low quality, having more ash and sulphur content. Reserves are estimated at 54 million tonnes. Besides the above mentioned coal mines. Some coal has also been discovered in other areas of Baluchistan such as Pir Ismail, Ziarat, Sinjidi and Kach, but extraction of coal has not been started from those places. Coal Mines of Sindh 1. Lakhara Coal Mines The coal found here is of inferior quality lignite and has a high moisture content. Reserves are about 22 million tonnes. 2. Meting Jhimpir Coal Mines The seams of coal are thin and are of poor quality.Reserves are about 28 million tonnes.

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Besides coal has been discovered in other areas of Pakistan such as Cherat hills.Nowshera in N.W.F.P and at Kotli, Kuiratta, Dandili and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir, but due to inferior quality and small quantity, mining is uneconomical.

TOTAL RESERVES
Coal has been the traditional source of energy and its resources are estimated to the tune of 17.77 billion tonnes.

COAL ENERGY PROSPECTS OF PAKISTAN

Pakistan has one of the largest reserves of coal in the world. The Geological survey of Pakistan places Pakistans coal reserves at Thar as the fourth largest in the world. Pakistans total coal reserves stand at approximately 184,575 million tones out of which Punjab and Baluchistan have reserves of 235 and 217 million tones respectively. Thar coal has the rest. Pakistan, at present, produces approximately 0.2% of its total electricity through coal. Compare this to a global average of 40% electricity production through coal. India, our immediate neighbor, produces roughly 53% of its electricity through coal fired power plants. Pakistans only coal fired power plant is at Lakhra with a power generation capacity of 30MW. It is indeed an alarming fact we need to wake up to and make most of what God has gifted to us. Financially speaking, Pakistan also needs to cut down its dependency on oil and gas, to which coal is a fitting solution. Historically, the price of coal has generally been very stable as opposed to the price of oil and gas. The coal mining sector, in general, is a neglected and underdeveloped area in Pakistan. The government needs to speed up and enhance the provision of basic infrastructure facilities, especially in the Thar region like roads, electricity, communication etc. to encourage investment in the exploration and development of coal projects. With a consistent government policy, we can generate up to 5000MW of energy through coal.

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ENERGY CONSUMPTION:

NATURAL GAS:

PETROLEUM PRODUCT:
The petroleum products energy supplies during JulyMarch 200910 increased to 16.3 million tonnes from 14.2 million tonnes in same period last year thereby witnessing the 14.6 percent growth during the period. Due to increased petroleum products energy supplied, the overall consumption of petroleum products exhibits an increase of 8.1 percent during JulyMarch 200910 against the same period last year

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