LAHORE: A Polish trade delegation headed by country’s deputy minister of commerce/Secretary of State Tomasz Tomczykiewicz on Wednesday discussed with officials of the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) and the provincial finance department the possibility of exploring iron ore in Punjab.

Polish Ambassador Dr Andrzej Ananicz was also present in the meeting.

PBIT Projects Director General Dr Ali Naveed Pirzada and provincial mines secretary Arshad Mehmood represented the Punjab government in the meeting.

Mr Pirzada briefed the Polish delegates on the board’s working and its role of helping investors.

He requested the Polish ambassador to suggest companies which would test and explore the area to estimate the size of coal and iron ore deposits.

Mr Mahmood informed the delegates about coal deposits in the Salt Range where roughly 800 mines were operational. He pointed out a few shortcomings in the coal mining process, including use of primitive mining techniques, small entrepreneurs and low demand of lignite.

He also apprised the participants of the bidding procedure for exploring iron ore in the region.

The delegates were told that Punjab could have its own steel mills if iron ore was extracted from the Salt Ranges near Chiniot. A 200MW coal-fired power plant was also proposed to power that steel mills.

The delegation was requested to provide technical and financial assistance in moving ahead with coal/iron ore mining and also investment in the proposed steel mills.

It was also agreed in the meeting that if the Polish took up the project, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed between the two governments.