HUGE resources of minerals across the country remain commercially unexploited for lack of infrastructure, mechanised methods, advanced skills and capital, that has restricted further its growth and role it could play in national economy.

Barite, or baryte, classified as ceramic mineral, is an important industrial mineral found abundantly in Pakistan. Chemically, it consists of crystals of barium sulfate, ie sulfate mineral with rich barium. It has high specific gravity, and it is insoluble in water and acids, chemically and physically non-reactive, non-toxic and non-magnetic.

Barite can absorb gamma radiation and x-rays, and is environmental-friendly mineral. It is used in paints, textiles, paper, rubber, plastics, medicines, cosmetics, and glass manufacturing, and for value addition in cars, electronics, TV screens, radiation shielding and other applications. Barite, also called ‘heavy spar’, has application in radiology for x-ray examination of digestive system as absorber of radiation, and in the oil and gas industry as barium mud or cement for drilling operations.

Pakistan ranks 13th globally with identified deposits of 13.71 million tonnes of barite, medium to high grade, and extracted both from surface and underground mining. The principal deposits are found at Bankhri (Lasbela), Kudni (Lasbela), Gunga (Khuzdar) Koh-e-Sultan (Chaghai) and Duddar in Balochistan, several places in Haripur (Kohala and Kachhi deposits) and Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and at Mianwali-Katha in Punjab.

Pakistan ranks 13th globally with identified deposits of 13.71 million tonnes of the mineral

These barites are known for high brightness and found as colourless, white, yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, brown, blue, green, grey, black and multi-coloured. Further processing of grading, grinding and micronising is done by simple physical methods. It is supplied in a variety of forms as barite ore (crude), lumps or powder, after removal of impurities like quartz, calcite and traces of metallic minerals.

Unfortunately, increase in barite production in successive years has been too slow, and remained static for many years. In 2003, barite production stood at 40,745 tonnes. However, since 2008 to 2012, barite production has been in the range of 52,000 to 56,500 tonnes, registering growth up to 75,000 tonnes only in 2014. Barite deposits are significant and suitably located for large-scale production. Yet barite’s extraction and production is neither proportionate to its deposits nor commensurate with the varied applications in industry; the domestic demand of which is being largely met through imports.

Barite was first discovered in 1956, and investigated in 1960s-1970s, at Gunga, District Khuzdar-- the single largest deposit originally estimated to contain 1.423 million tonnes of reserves. Now, the 300km long Khuzdar-Lasbela belt alone has been identified hosting reserves of about 11 million tonnes, and inferred reserves of 40 million tonnes of barite. The private sector has installed a few small scale crushing plants.

Bolan Mining Enterprise, a joint venture of the Government of Balochistan and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, has a barite mine-lease spread over 316 acres in Gunga, and operates a grinding/milling plant that provides oil drilling barite, according to American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications.

An extensive lead-zinc-barite mineralisation belt has also been discovered in Lasbela, Balochistan. In March 2008, the company has acquired a licence for exploration of barite, lead and zinc over 177,600 acres in the same region (barite is a co-product of lead and zinc mining). Though economic viability of the project has meanwhile established, the extraction/production of the minerals has not commenced yet.

Indeed, commercial exploitation of fairly large deposits of barite provides an excellent opportunity for potentially being self-sufficient in this important mineral and also earning foreign exchange through exports and attracting domestic and foreign investments.

Currently, world production is 9.6m tonnes annually, of which 80pc is used in oil industry, 10pc in chemicals, 9pc in other industries and 1pc in construction. The US is the largest consumer of barite, with 3.4 million tonnes per year. Major consumption, besides the countries that produce barite, is recorded in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and African countries. Pakistani mineral and its derivatives have great export potential in these regions, whereas only small quantities have been exported so far.

Drilling grade barite API specifications, un-ground lump has an international FOB price of $110-$160 per tonne, linked to its purity and quantity. On the other hand, Pakistan sells barite lumps at $80-$100 per tonne FOB. Globally, there is an ongoing interest in developing new sources of barite due to its rising prices in recent years, and Pakistan should exploit the opportunity fully.

The writer is retired chairman of the State Engineering Corporation.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, March 7th, 2016