Faiza Tehseen

Phosphate rock – an important source of trace elements of huge industrial and economic value – found in abundance all over Pakistan – is being exported in concentrated form, depriving the country of huge revenue annually and putting additional burden on the foreign exchange reserves, reports WealthPK.

Currently, there is no infrastructure available in Pakistan for the extraction of trace elements of huge industrial and economic value from the phosphate rock. Discussing with WealthPK the economic importance and local extraction of phosphorus, acting member of the sectoral Council for Marble, Granite, and Minerals, the Ministry of Finance, Muhammad Yaqub Shah, said the term phosphate rock or rock phosphate was used to signify any rock with high content of phosphorus.

“Rock phosphate deposits can be igneous or sedimentary. But mostly, sedimentary rocks are mined to get it. These rocks are a source of over 80% of the world’s production. Around the globe, concentration of phosphate rock is the principal, easiest, and most inexpensive source for extraction of phosphorus.” “Sedimentary rocks are found abundantly all over Pakistan, but most of the rock phosphate is actively mined in Hazara. It is not under government control, but privately its mining is operational,” he said.

Continuing the discussion, Yaqub, who is also the principal geologist at Islamabad-based Global Mining Company, said, “Rock phosphate is actively mined in Hazara. Despite having such abundant rock sources, phosphorus has never been extracted in Pakistan in its true elemental form. To some extent, phosphate fertilizer, i.e., single super phosphate and triple super phosphate is gained after regular crushing/grinding, but phosphorus extraction has never been tried at any government level. The rock phosphate is exported in the concentrated (powdered) form to different countries.”

“Other than phosphorus, phosphate rock is the source of a lot of industrially important trace elements, i.e., beryllium, scandium, gallium, hafnium, germanium, and many other Rare Earth Elements (REEs). When it is exported in raw form, all the pre-described elements are assessed there for economic viability and are extracted afterwards by using potential recovery technologies,” the senior geologist added.

Industrially, phosphorus is used in the production of fertilizers, steel, flares, light emitting diodes, safety matches, anti-corrosive agents, detergents (by using a few phosphates), rust remover, animal feed, flame retardant, multiple medical purposes, etc. It is also used as a smoke producing agent and incendiary agent in various types of ammunition.

The global phosphorus and its derivatives market are expected to grow worth US$63.20 billion at the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.60 percent by the year 2028. Pakistan can earn billions from the local extraction of phosphorus for economic stability through local industry and export.

Credit: INP-WealthPk