Faiza Tehseen

Policymakers in Pakistan must prioritize scientific exploration and extraction of vanadium, a transitional metal element, for sustainable socioeconomic benefits.

The geological environment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly its Chitral district, the Gilgit-Baltistan region and Balochistan is favourable for vanadium exploitation, addressing Pakistan’s industrial and strategic needs. “Greenfield exploration of vanadium in northern parts and Balochistan province is direly needed,” stressed Muhammad Yaqub Shah, a geologist serving with an Islamabad-based mining company. In an interview with WealthPK, he said at least 65 minerals could be called the principal ore minerals of vanadium. “To find the greenfield exploration targets of different minerals, including REEs and vanadium, Pakistan Minerals Developments Corporation (PMDC) conducted a research titled ‘geological exploration and evaluation of gold and base metals in northern areas of Pakistan’ from January 1992 to June 2001. “The samples collected during this research were tested in the Ultra Trace Labs in Perth, Australia. Out of 1,379, 22 samples of -80 mesh size (two of which were collected from the main river system), strongly supported the greenfield exploration targets to find vanadium-bearing rock suits in Gilgit-Baltistan.”

Discussing the possibilities of finding vanadium in other parts of the country, he said like GB, the geological environment is the same as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially in its Chitral district. “A follow-up exploration like GB can be strongly suggested there.” He said Balochistan’s geological environment is also suitable for greenfield exploration. Discussing the occurrence of vanadium in Balochistan, Abdul Bashir, chief geologist at Koh-e-Daleel Minerals Company (Pvt) Limited, said in the Chagai magnetic belt, the dominant area mainly consists of igneous rocks. “Before it, sedimentary rocks occurred where different igneous activities took place a million years ago, covering different periods. For the brief age dating survey of the geological activity period in different sedimentary rock suits in this belt, different rock samples were collected from different places. It was concluded that the igneous activity consisted of different periods ranging from 14 million to 30 million years.

Currently, most of the area in the Chagai magnetic arc consists of igneous rocks, whether they are volcanic or plutonic. Volcanic rocks are more ancient than the plutonic ones.” He said samples taken from different areas located in the Chagai magnetic belt were tested in laboratory. “The traces of vanadium were found in several samples, especially collected from the west portion of the magnetic belt. They are enough to advocate the greenfield exploration in this belt.” Vanadium, a transitional metal element, serves industrial, strategic and pharmaceutical sectors in the manufacturing of a variety of products. Globally, its market is projected to grow to $4.6 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2% by 2032 from $2.3 billion in 2023.

Credit: INP-WealthPk