Daily Times

Caretaker Sindh Minister for Mines and Minerals Development, Mir Khuda Bax Marri on Thursday said that many of the leading sources of minerals commodities used world over in mobile devices and cars manufacturing were found in Pakistan.

The minister expressed these views while addressing a press conference in the Karachi Press Club (KPC) here.

He said that these sources of minerals were gift from Allah to Pakistan and same were being used the world over in manufacturing of the top three global industries. We should also utilize these sources for development and prosperity of the country instead of exporting these minerals in raw form, he said.

The caretaker minister called for a need to establish industries in the country to utilize these available mineral sources to produce more iron, cement and other commodities which are high in demand.

He highlighted that the leading mineral resources like lake salt, bentonite, China clay, lime stone, marble, granite and others were found in Sindh. The minerals or minerals sources like zinc, lead, cobalt, graphite, iron, steel, cooper, glass/sand, calcium carbonate, talc, silica, nickel and others are also found in Pakistan, he added.

He pointed out that these minerals were used in various industries for the production of decorative stones, construction stones, cement, ceramics products, mud of oil drilling, oil filtering, cosmetics, fungicides, textiles and others industries but there was a need to properly utilize these minerals.

He termed that lack of awareness about the utilization of these minerals sources was one of the challenges we were facing, therefore we needed to create awareness in this regard. The provincial minister said that a team of experts should be constituted to work from the exploration of minerals sources up-to the production of finished products.

Mir Khuda Bax Marri said that minerals used to color the products of textile, fabrics, cars, houses, plastics, ceramics, decoration leather, books and magazines are also found in the country.

He reiterated the need to make concerted efforts by all the stakeholders and concerned quarters to prepare a strategy for proper utilization of these valuable minerals for the development of the country.