COAL MINING & TRADING
SECTOR OVERVIEW
July 2020 1
•Coal mining is also critical contributor to many economies, especially in developing nations
where mining’s contributions enable them to grow stronger and tackle the dual challenges of
poverty and development.
•There are an estimated 1.1 trillion tones of proven coal reserves worldwide in around 70
countries. The biggest reserves are in the USA, Russia, China, Australia and India.There is
enough coal to last us around 150 years at current rates of production
•In 2018,7813.3 million tones (Mt) of coal were produced worldwide, the top five hard coal
producers are China, India, USA, Indonesia and Australia.
•Much of global coal production is used in the country in which it was produced only, around
15%of hard coal production is destined for the international coal market.
WORLD COAL RESERVE | SNAPSHOT
P
A
C
R
A
2
Top 5 Coal Producing Countries 2018
Countries Production
India 771mt
USA 685mt
Indonesia 549mt
Australia 483mt
China 350mt
Source: IEA Coal Information 2019
The presence of coal deposits in Pakistan was known before independence, but its economic
value was highlighted in 1980 when large reserves of coal were discovered in the Lakhra and
Sonda areas of Sindh Province.
Estimated coal potential in Pakistan is 185.175 billion tons, the share of Sindh in
aforementioned deposit is 184.623 billion tones which includes 5th largest reserves of world of
175.5 billion tones in an area of 10,000 sq.km in Tharparkar District of Sindh.
After this discovery, Pakistan is now the 6th richest nation of the world in respect of coal
resources.
Most of the Coal in Pakistan is Lignite and is ranked qualitatively at 7th in the world
At present coal is the second largest energy source in Pakistan and comes to around 25%of
total energy mix.
It is anticipated that, if properly exploited, Pakistan’s coal resources may generate more than
100,000 MW of electricity for the next 30 years.
PAKISTAN COAL RESERVE | SNAPSHOT
P
A
C
R
A
3
In long term, there is aneed to
explore the coal resources in
COAL | RESERVES & TECHNICAL DETAIL | PAKISTAN
Coal Field Coal Resources (Mln Tonnes)
Sindh
Thar 175,506
Sonda–Jherruck 5,523
Indus East 1,777
Lakhra 1,328
Meting-Jhimpir 473
P
A
C
Province Locations
Reserves
Million
Tones
Heating Value
(Btu/lb) Moisture % Ash Content % Volatile
Matter %
Fixed Carbon
%Sulfur%
Sindh Thar, Lakrah, Indus East, Badin, Sondra
Jherruk, Jhimpir
*184,623 5,219 – 13,555 16 – 47 3.3-37.5 19.1-39.8 10.96-43.46 06.10.8
Punjab Salt range, Makarwal 235 9,472 – 15,801 3- 8 9.35-37.5 26.5-40.95 30.3-44.87 2.7-8.25
Baluchistan Sor Range, Degari, Khost –Sharigh –
Harnai–Ziarat, Mach, Duki
217 9,637 – 15,499 4 – 13 7.2-27.37 24.05-43.95 31.72-44.52 2.825-7.11
KPK Hangu, Cherat 91 9,386 – 14,217 0.1 – 7 5.3-43.3 14-33.4 21.8-76.9 1.1-9.5
AJK Kotli 9 7,336 – 12,338 0.2 – 6 3.3-50 5.1-32 26.3-69.5 0.3-4.8
Total 185,175 8,210 – 14,282 4 – 16 5.69-39.13 17.75-38.02 24.21-55.85 1.505-8.092
Source: Pakistan Energy Vision 2035
