Faiza Tehseen

Extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) from olivine sands can fetch Pakistan fortunes and put the country’s mining sector on a sustainable footing.

“Among untapped resources, olivine sands – mostly overlooked, host many precious, semi-precious and REEs, including neodymium, lanthanum, cerium, scandium, and yttrium. Olivine is a magnesium-iron silicate mineral abundantly occurring at the earth’s mantle. It often occurs in the sand deposits in various regions. It is not a REE in itself but the sands it is found in usually contain a multitude of trace elements, including the rare elements.

They can be extracted by using advanced technology,” explained Abdul Bashir, chief geologist at Koh-e-Daleel Mining Company Limited, a Balochistan-based firm. He said that olivine sands are a promising source of valuable minerals widely used in modern technological sectors and manufactures, including renewable energy, electronics, strategic equipment, smartphones, electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, clean energy technologies, and medical devices.

He said, “Geologically, olivine sands abundantly occur in Pakistan – desert regions of Sindh and Balochistan, including different igneous activity-based places like Chagai belt, Khuzdar ophiolites, and Ras Koh Mountain range. Olivine also occurs in coastal sands. The arid regions in Pakistan with ancient volcanic and sedimentary formations can also hold great in-kind sand deposits.”

“Due to their increasing worldwide demand, Pakistan must focus on extracting REEs from olivine sands,” he said. “Pakistan can reduce dependency on imports by tapping its potential in REEs.” He said, “Often, rare earth extraction involves high-level expertise and complex chemical process. The lack of home expertise can limit the work progress and expected outcomes. The technology acquisition and training of experts also need considerable finances.”

“Extracting olivine sands is a resource-intensive and complex process, requiring sophisticated infrastructure and processing mechanism. Sustainable processing of olivine sands is also another critical issue to ensure environmental safety,” pointed out Bashir. Meanwhile, talking to WealthPK concerning the extraction of REEs from olivine sands, Imran Babar, a geologist and miner, said, “Pakistan’s olivine sand deposits are too significant to ignore.

Many countries are earning handsome profits by exporting REEs. Pakistan can be one of them. As the demand for the REEs is increasing, Pakistan should swiftly plan to capitalise on its olivine sands deposits.” He said the government should prioritise the investor-friendly policies to tap this potential for socioeconomic benefits. “Public-private partnerships and joint ventures can also be launched.” 

Credit: INP-WealthPk