Government is planning to establish a model quarry for marble in federally administered tribal area (Fata) with the objective to minimise wastage of the valuable resource and impart training to the local for promotion of marble and granite sector, sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday.
The tribal areas abound in good quality marble deposits having a great variety of colours and fabrics and thus have a vast potential in international market. The in situ block cutting and extraction of sized blocks would not only enhance the production, but would also result in value addition to these resources.
The governor's Fata Secretariat is looking for private sector parties to collaborate for the development of these resources to promote technical cuttings and their value addition for exploration and export.
In this regard the secretariat is seeking technical and financial assistance from the foreign firms on the transfer of most appropriate technology, mining methods and operations, designs of transport and processing equipment, their advantages, limitation and problems, processing methods, marketing and management.
According to a survey of the mineral resources of the tribal belt, about 7,000 million tonnes of good quality marble ranging from super white, to silky and grey varieties exist in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies.
Presently, more than 3,500 tonnes of marble is being excavated from Mohmand and Bajaur agencies per day. But, due to the usage of primitive mining methods, indiscriminate blasting not only 70 percent of the resource is wasted but also results in deterioration/degradation of the fairly good grade marble deposits, which greatly handicaps its marketing in the international market.
In this connection, when Business Recorder contacted Director Mines and Minerals Governor's Secretariat Fata, Yaqub Shah, he confirmed the initiation of the project saying that the decision of the awarding contract would be made strictly on merit.
He said that the secretariat would look into the standard of the party and pros and cons of the project before awarding the contract. He informed that advertisements to invite parties would be published in the newspapers by the end of the current month.
The government has already announced the establishment of a marble model quarry in district Buner. The PC-I of the project has been prepared while construction work over the project is expected to start shortly.
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