ENRICHMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF URANIUM IN THAR COALFIELD, SINDH, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The Thar coalfield is the largest coalfield of Pakistan and that spreads over 9100 sq km in the south eastern-part of Sindh. The coalfield rests on a structural high in the eastern part of the desert. The high is underlain by relatively shallow granitic basement rocks. It is widely accepted that the Uranium in Thar coal has originally been derived from underlying igneous basement. The Uranium in Thar coal varies from 4.3 ppm in Block-III to 1.8 ppm in Block-II. The results show that coals in Block-I and II have lower concentration of Uranium while Uranium content, in Block-III of Thar coalfield, have relatively higher concentration because of it had leached or transported epigenetically from kaoline or granitic wash from granitic basement. The studies suggest that the ultimate source of Uranium in Thar coal is granitic basement rock from where Uranium may have migrated to the coal and this Uranium bearing combustion waste can be extracted by various leach methods