NEWS
GSB to study river sands for valuable minerals
16 July, 2016 00:00 00 AM
The Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) will conduct a survey for identification and economic assessment of precious minerals in river sands of the country. Talking to The Independent, Md Nehal Uddin, director general (DG) of the GSB, said: “The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river systems are enriched with valuable and precious minerals. We want to conduct a study to find out those valuable resources.”
The study will be carried out at 30-metre depth of the rivers, he said. This will be done under a GSB project titled “Identification and Economic Assessment of Valuable Minerals in the River Sands of Bangladesh”. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Tk. 35.63 crore project on January 19. “The GSB will identify the minerals present and we’ll quantify the total reserves of sand deposits to determine the contents and quality of economic minerals, as well as their market demand,” said Nehal Uddin.
The project is to be implemented in the GBM basins in Greater Mymensingh, Tangail, Sylhet, Dhaka, Comilla, Noakhali, Chittagong and Bhola districts.
The main objective of the project is to assess the extension, reserves, mode of occurrence and economic viability of the mineral sand in the rivers, said the GSB DG.
Explaining the other objective, Nehal Uddin said that a basic database on mineral and elemental compositions of the river sands will be created through a detailed geological exploration.
He also said that they expect to find some of the strategic minerals that are important for the nation’s economy. The minerals do not have replacements and, as of now, these primarily come to Bangladesh from foreign countries, he observed.
Govt takes up Tk 73cr project to extract minerals from beach
2:00 AM, March 22, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:02 AM, March 22, 2017
The government is taking a fresh initiative to extract minerals and mineral particles from the sands of Cox’s Bazar beach and the Brahmaputra river, for which there is a big demand abroad.
For that end, a Tk 73 crore project will be taken up, which has already been approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council yesterday.
Every year, 21 million tonnes of valuable heavy mineral particles are deposited into the sands of the Cox’s Bazar beach and another 5 million tonnes into the Brahmaputra river basin, according to a proposal from the planning ministry.
A study by the mineralogy division of the Institute of Mining, Mineralogy and Metallurgy (IMMM) found that the sands of the Brahmaputra river contain magnetite and ilmenite that have iron and titanium.
The minerals have huge demand in the international market, it said.
At present, the US, Mexico, Egypt and India have taken initiatives to extract minerals and mineral particles from the sands of sea beach and rivers.
Besides, for socio-economic development of the country more research is required on mineral resources and their processing. In this context, under the project a mineral processing centre will be set up by the IMMM in Joypurhat. Appropriate manpower will be recruited, international consultancy service hired and modern machinery installed at the institute under the project.
Govt to call for tenders, survey underwater for mineral resources
Bangla Tribune Report
Published : 19:35, Aug 08, 2019 | Updated : 00:05, Aug 09, 2019
The government will be carrying out multi-client surveys along will calling tenders to mine mineral resources in the ocean. The Energy and Mineral Resources Division decided on the move after neighbouring Myanmar and India were successful in their region.
The announcement was made during a media briefing on the occasion of National Energy Safety day on Thursday (Aug 8). The issues of searches for gas reserves, coal mining, importing liquefied natural gas from India, the discovery of valuable minerals in the sands of River Jamuna were addressed during the media call amongst other things.
According to specialists, the biggest problem is that Bangladesh has no clue about its marine resources in the Bay of Bengal and despite many nudges, the government left the multi-client survey hanging for the last three years.
ARTICLES
Valuable heavy minerals from the Brahmaputra River sands of Northern Bangladesh
A. Rahman, M. I. Pownceby,N. Haque,W. J. Bruckard&M. N. Zaman
Received on 11 Jun 2015, Accepted 27 Oct 2015, Published online: 05 Feb 2016
Heavy Minerals in Sands along Brahmaputra (Jamuna) River of Bangladesh
Md. Ibrahim Khalil. Md. Nazrul Islam Khan, Md. Zafrul Kabir, Ratan Kumar Majumder, Md. Idris ali, Debasish Paul, Syed Mohammad Azharul Islam
Received 25 December 2015; accepted 25 January 2016; published 28 January 2016