Copper Mining at Saindak

Copper Mining at Saindak

Rafi Samad

Author, Freelance journalist, News Analyst

Key words: Saindak, Chagai, Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan, location, Tethyan Belt, minerals,  mining, copper, gold, physical infrastructure, facilities, products, Metallurgical Construction Corporation, China.

Saindak, a small town in the Chagai District of Pakistan, is located in a remote desert- like area near Pakistan’s western borders with Afghanistan and Iran. However, it is reasonably well-connected by road and rail through Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province. The RCD Highway which links Quetta with Iran and Turkey and the Quetta-Zahidan Railway Line pass near to Saindak.

The Chagai District, spread over an area of 50,545 square kilometers, is the largest district in Pakistan, and also among the most thinly populated.  The population density of Chagai District is less than 5 persons per square kilometer and because of the scarcity of water resources hardly anything grows here. But Chagai is the richest district in Pakistan, as far as mineral resources go. Significant deposits of copper, gold, silver, molybdenum, iron and coal have either been discovered or are indicated through geological surveys.

Chagai District is located in the Tethyan Belt, which runs from Europe via Chagai, the Himalayas, Burma, and as far east as the Papua region of Indonesia. This means that substantial deposits of porphyry copper are located in this District. Saindak was the first site in Chagai District where porphyry copper deposits were discovered. After that, major deposits of porphyry copper and gold were discovered at Reko Diq, about 40 kilometers from Saindak. In the Chagai magmatic arc, significant copper deposits are indicated at 27 sites, including Ziarat Pir Kalan, Kabul Koh, Dasht-i-Kain, Makki Chah and Mashki Chah.

The porphyry copper deposits at Saindak were discovered in the1970s by a team of Chinese geologists.  The porphyry copper reserves are located near the surface of the ground at three sites in the vicinity of Saindak. These sites are designated as North, South and East Saindak, which contain 28 million tons, 111 million tons and 273 million tons of sulfide ore respectively (total 412 million tons). The estimated quantities of various products recoverable from these ores are 1.69 million tons of copper, 2.24 million ounces of gold, 2.49 million ounces of silver, 0.02 tons of Molybdenum and 37.77 tons of sulfuric acid.

The reserves could not be developed immediately after their discovery. 1970s was a difficult period for Pakistan. After the trauma of a Civil war, which resulted in the separation of half the country, Pakistan was slowing getting back on its feet again. As a result Saindak did not receive the priority and the attention it deserved. It was not till 1995 that things started to move forward again.

In 1995 the Government of Pakistan established a company by the name of Saindak Metals Limited for operating the Saindak Copper mines. Under this company, trial production was carried out in 1995-96, which was successful. About 1541 tons of copper blister was produced.

The normal mine operations could not continue due to international economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan after Pakistan exploded a nuclear device in 1998.

In 2002 the Pakistan Government signed a 10-year lease agreement with Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC) of China. According to the Lease Agreement MCC agreed to pay US $ 500,000 as rent annually to the Government of Pakistan and in addition the Pakistan Government would receive 50% of the amount realized by the firm through sales of copper and other products mined from Saindak.

MCC has established the necessary infrastructure for smooth mine operations. This includes a 37 kilometer water pipeline to supply water to Saindak from Tahlab, a 38 kilometer railway track linking Saindak to Taftan on the Quetta-Zahidan Railway line, a Diesel Generator of 50 MW capacity to meet the electrical power requirements, and a township for 2100 persons. 

Provisions have been made at the site for open-pit mining, concentration, and smelting. 4.25 million tons of sulfide ores can be processed annually. In the first phase the end product of the Saindak Project is copper blister, which would be refined outside Pakistan. In the second phase a refinery was foreseen, which would have led to the production of copper, gold silver sulfuric acid and molybdenum locally. The second phase expansion has not materialized and the project continues to export copper blister.

MCC China is producing on an average 20,000 tons of copper blister annually, which includes 1.5 tons of gold and 2.8 tons of silver.