MINING PROJECT ANTIMONY (GOHAR-1), KILLA ABDULLAH, BALUCHISTAN, PAKISTAN

SUMMARY

Antimony is a metalloid with a wide range of industrial applications, which keeps it in high demand. It is regarded as a critical mineral in most nations due to its scarcity and sophisticated geological genesis. The present initiative aims to extract antimony from a location with an established production history. A successful mining operation is operating around 500 meters from study area located in the Killa Abdullah, producing 3 tons per day on average using a simple mining strategy and procedures. The location is in the Kila Abdullah District, around three hours' drive from Quetta. Balochistan Mineral Department allocated the lease of antimony mining to the firm which has been established with the by local elders. Location of Killa Abdullah is 690 km (aerial distance) south-west of Pakistan's Capital Pakistan's Capital of Baluchistan. It is located along the Pakistan -Afghanistan border populated with ethnic Pushtoon tribes of Kakar, Tareen Syed and Achakzai. Killa Abdullah is located on the western corner of the Indo-Pakistan Plate, specifically in the Pishin Basin. Its eastern boundary is formed by the Zhob Valley Thrust (ZVT) and ophiolite complexes, while the western boundary is marked by the sinistral Chaman Fault. The kinematics of the structural style at surface infers characteristics of orogenic fold, thrust belts with deep rooted faults characteristics of orogenic fold and thrust belts formed by the closure of Tethys between Afghan Block and Indian Plate. Antimony is found in this part of the world (District Killa Abdullah) as Stibnite ore, which is hosted in Quartz veins. These quartz veins have intruded the flysch sediments of the Oligocene Murgha Faqirzai Formation during the closure of Tethys at the later stages of the Himalaya Orogeny. The precipitation of stibnite in this area is caused by the circulation of hydrothermal solution along fissures and cracks during late stages of Himalaya orogeny. The study area has experienced some mining activity in the past. An exploration of a 100-foot mine provides valuable information about potential resources at a mining depth of around 300 feet. The current location also shows extensive signs of near surface clay alterations which indicate the presence of a hydrothermal system in this area There are also isolated patches of patchy stibnite visible along the mine walls, which is a sign that the mining operation should go deeper and suggests that a deeper mineral will be extracted. It was found that the stibnite bed thickens with depth, reaching an overall thickness of one foot at a depth of around 300 feet by looking at the lithological logs from surrounding mines. In the nearby mine, a one-foot vein thickens in the subsurface and reaches almost 2.5 feet at a depth of 700 feet. After developing a 3D volume of the stibnite bearing horizon in the MOVE Software by merging data from the presently mined 100 ft, data from surrounding mines, and some sample testing, it can be anticipated that the current location will host about 100,000 metric tons of resources.