Staff Reporter Islamabad
The mines and minerals sector has wit-nessed a 56 percent increase in annual royalty col-lection during the last financial year as the sector has the potential to spur economic growth and job creation in Balochistan.
The government has issued 161 Prospecting licenses, 73 Mining Lease, and four Mining Explo-ration Licenses with an aim to trigger rapid growth of the mining sector and attract maximum investors, a Balochistan government official briefed APP on initiatives made to improve the Mining Sector.
The government had established new regional of-fices of mines and minerals at Muslim Bagh, Har-nai, Mach, and Gwadar to ensure good governance and facilitation of the mining companies.
The government has also imparted training to over 500 mining workers in the mining sector to over-come the rising disaster and death ratio due to poor working conditions and awareness.
The Balochistan government has also established Mining Testing Laboratory at a cost of Rs 182 mil-lion. It would help in guiding miners in exploration, quality assessment, and improved production.
Furthermore, in order to ensure precautionary steps, the government has closed 321 mines on lacking safety measures and equipment at the workplaces.
The government had formed the Balochistan Miner-als Exploration Company (BMEC) and Balochistan Minerals Resource Company Limited (BMRL) to endeavor mining lease and exploration in the prov-ince, he said.
“The initiative would lead to increase revenue gen-eration in the province,” he added.He said the amendment in mining rules was brought after the cabinet’s go-ahead for bringing change in the existing rules.—TLTP
