Tharparkar district is rich in minerals too. Some of the minerals discovered so far, in district Tharparkar area.
Coal
World’s sixth largest coal reserves were discovered in Tharparkar in the year 1991. Coal reserves have been found to be present on 9000 square kilometers of Tharparkar. It is believed that the coal reserves found in district Tharparkar add upto 175 billion tons which are sufficient to meet the energy needs of our country for centuries. Coal mining industry has started to mine the coal near Taluka Islamkot.
THAR COALFIELD
Distance from Mithi 68 Km
Total Area : 9,000 sq. Km
Coal Reserves: 175 Billion Tons
The Thar coalfield with a resource potential of 175 billion tones of coal covers an area of over 9,000 sq km in the Thar Desert in Tharparkar district, in southeastern part of Sindh. The investigated area is covered by stable sand dunes and there are no rock exposures. To establish the coal resources in six selected blocks a total of 237 holes have been drilled. The coal resources of the area within clastic sediments of the Bara Formation of Paleocene age. The measured reserves are over 2,357 million tones, indicated millions tones and inferred 1,362 million tones.
The number of coal seams varies from hole to hole and a maximum of 20 seams have been logged in some of the drill holes. The thickness of coal seams ranges between 0.21 to 22.81 meters. The cumulative coal thickness varies and attains a maximum of 36 meters in one of the drill holes. Clay stone and loose sand beds form the roof as well as the floor-rock of coal seams. The overburden consists of three kinds of material; dune sand, alluvium and sedimentary rocks. The thickness of the overburden varies from 114 to over 203 meters. The sand dunes above the average ground level in the area will also add another 30 meters of thickness to the overburden.
Granite
Large reserves of pink and grey Granite marble has also been discovered in the Karoonjhar mountains of Taluka Nangarparkar in Tharparkar. According to a study of the area it has been found that there are 11811 million tones of Grey Granite, 3813 million tons of pink granite and 240 million tons of Adamellite in Taluka Nangarparkar.
China clay
China clay is a layered silicate mineral of white color, which is used in paper making, ceramics, cosmetics, medical sciences and in fertilizer preparation. Huge reserves of china clay have been found and are being mined in Tharparkar district near Taluka Nangarparkar.
SALT
Sea salt is also gathered from Saran Lake near Taluka Diplo, district Tharparkar.