Find Mining expertise in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has small reserves of limestone and china clay, with granite and coal making up the majority of mined minerals. The country lacks extensive metallic mineral reserves and the US Geological Survey has estimated that the sector contributes 1% to the country’s GDP (2008). The Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) carries out all mining in the country through its subsidiaries, Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd and Maddhapara Granite Mining Corporation Ltd; and through production-sharing contracts with international companies. Such international co-operation applies particularly to oil exploration.

Between 1994 and 1997, Australian mining company BHP discovered substantial coal reserves in Phulbari in north-west Bangladesh. While substantial reserves of coal have been identified in the Jamalganj and Rajshahi areas, they lie at a depth greater than 900 metres, making exploitation both difficult and expensive. Consequently, Bangladesh imports a large amount of coal from India, Indonesia and China. In 2010 the mineral industry produced mainly coal, granite, natural gas and petroleum.

According to the Asian Development Bank and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, there were approximately 104,000 people employed in mining and quarrying in 2010: 2,400 formally and 101,500 informally, with men making up almost 90 per cent of the total. Around 80 per cent of those employed in mining and quarrying live in rural areas.

The Ministry of Power, Energy and Extractives governs the extractive industry in Bangladesh.

The Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Bill 2010, which was in effect for two years, enabled the government to take quick and effective action to increase energy generation as well as improve the distribution, import, marketing, supply, transmission and transportation of mineral fuels. The bill also applied to initiatives for exploration in the energy sector and the extraction of mineral resources.

Quarrying is used to source limestone, china clay, granite, sand and gravel. Sand and gravel is sourced mainly from in-stream quarrying and mining, which come from different parts of the Sylhet division. Jaflong is one of the prime zones for both in-stream and off-channel extraction of sand, gravel and stones, with precious rocks and pebbles washed into the Jaflong area from India by strong currents during the monsoon season.