Mineral, power and forest resources are essential for economic development in Pakistan by providing the foundation for industries and employment opportunities. Natural gas, crude oil, coal, and other minerals like chlorite, barite, gypsum, and limestone have been discovered across Pakistan and are important sources of energy and raw materials. However, efforts must continue to fully survey and explore the country's resource potential to further develop industries and reduce import dependence, while sustainably managing these natural assets for long-term economic growth.

1. NATURAL RESOURCES AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Mineral, power and forest resources are
the foundation of economic development
They help in giving an initial push to the
raising of production in all sectors of the
economy. If the quality of manpower is
high a country, it will make the best use
of the natural resources and attain
development in the shortest possible
period of time. Human and natural
resources are thus both determining
factors in economic development.
We, in this article, briefly examine the
importance, quantity and the quality of
the mineral power and forest resources
available in Pakistan. The resources are
discussed under separate heads.

2. 1. MINERAL RESOURCES
The minerals, like the forest are the
precious wealth of a country. These are
extracted from earth. Some minerals like
coal, iron, copper et .are found in solid
forms and some like gas, petrol, oil etc
are discovered in liquid shape.
A country with large deposits of minerals
provides a sound base for the
development of a large number of
industries viz.. iron, steel, petrol
chemicals, cement, pottery etc. The
discovery of varied mineral deposits
provides employment to a large number
of persons living in that area. Their
economic condition improves. The
availability of mineral resources in the
country reduces the import bill of many
items like oil, chemicals machinery etc.

3. The mining sector thus makes a
significant contribution to GDP.
MINERAL DEPOSITS
Natural Gas.
The discovery of huge reservoirs of
natural gas is a great blessing of God t
Pakistan. The gas is a very good
substitute for coal and petroleum. It is
also used as a raw material in various
industries such as fertilizer, rayon,
plastic, resin etc. The Oil and Gas
Development Corporation (OGDC)
assisted by a few other foreign oil
companies is making hectic efforts in the
survey and exploration of gas and oil
resources in different parts of the
country. These efforts have born fruit at
many places like Pirkoh Toot and
Dhodak. The recent discovery of oil and
gas reserves at Dement is very

4. significant. As on April, 1,2007, the
recoverable reserves of natural gas have
been estimated at 31.81 trillion cubic
feet. The average production of natural
gas by 13 different gas companies is
3876 million cubic feet per day.
LPG: LIQUEFIED Petroleum Gas:
The LPG is economical, clear, and
environmental friendly fuel. It is the
most popular domestic fuel in areas
where supply of natural gas is technical
or operationally not feasible. All present
about 1650 million tons per day LPG is
being produced daily. There are 22 LPG
companies marketing the indigenous and
imported LPG in the country. The
Government has deregulated the
allocation and price of LPG from Sept.
2000 to keep the prices of LPG at
reasonable level.

5. CNG: compressed Natural Gas:
The use of CNG in automotive vehicles
is being encouraged to reduce pressure
on petroleum imports and improve
environment. The Government has
issued instructions to promote CNG in
the transport sector as an alternative fuel.
2. Crude Oil. Oil is called the liquid
gold. It is an important source of energy.
It contributes about 44.6% to the total
energy supply of the country. The
balance recoverable reserves of crude oil
s 1.1.2007 is estimated at 317 million
barrels.
3. Coal. Pakistan has a sufficiently large
resource base of coal of about 185 billion
tunes. Deposits of over 175 billion tunes
in the deserts of Send have been
discovered. The drilling is in progress.
During the year 2006-07 the PMDC

6. (Pakistan Mineral Development
Corporation) has produced 4.9 million
tunes of coal.
4. Chlorite. Chlorite is an important
mineral and is used in hardening and
refining ores, leather tanning,
manufacture of steel goods, chemicals
etc. Fairly large deposits of Chlorite have
been found near Muslimbagh in Zhob
District (Baluchistan). Chlorite deposits
also occur in Peshawar and Kalat
Divisions but are not being mined. The
production of Chlorite has been
persistently declining in the past few
years due to the tough international
competition from Rhodesia, Korea,
Turkey, and U.S.A.
5. Barite. Barite (commonly called
drilling mud) is mainly used in oil well
drilling operations. Fairly large deposits

7. of Barite have been discovered in
Khuzdar district in Baluchistan and in
Hazara district NWFP. A Barite grinding
plant has been set up at Khuzdar.
6. Gypsum. Gypsum is being used in the
production of cement, chemical
fertilizers, plaster of Paris etc. Very large
deposits of gypsum are found in all the
four provinces of Pakistan.
7. Limestone. Limestone is used in
cement industry, building and
constructional material. Large deposits
of limestone are found in all the
provinces of Pakistan. The total
production of limestone was 14.6
thousand tones in 2006.
8. Rock Salt. Rock Salt is used for
domestic and commercial purposes. Its
main deposits are found in Jhelum,
Mianwail and Kohat district. The annual

8. production of rock salt was 2012
thousand tones in 2007.
9. Silica Sand. Silica Sand is mainly
used in chemicals metallurgical and
refractory industries. Its deposits are in
Mianwali. Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail
Khan, Dadu and Hazara districts.
10. Soapstone. Soapstone is used as a
raw material in many industries like
paints, roofing tiles soap insecticides etc.
The production of soapstone was 42
thousand tones.
11. Magnetite. Magnetite is mainly
found in Nasal in Zhob district. Some
quantity has also been discovered in
Sherwan in NWFP.
This Hub was last updated on June 25,
2012