Thar Block II Coal Mine

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Thar Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Thar Coal Mine	Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan	24.7755787, 70.3982412 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Project Phase	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	Phase I	2019	–

Table 3: Operation details

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
7.6	4.5	2022	Surface	Open Pit	–	135	908

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
1.57 billion tonnes	2018	–	Thar	Lignite	Thermal

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company	Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company [100%]	Pakistan

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that the value is an estimated figure based on various factors, including the company's forecasted or reported monthly or quarterly production data, etc.

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	–	–	2	3	3	4	7*

Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Proposed	Construction	Expansion	Phase 3	3.6	2024

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

Thar Block II Coal Mine is an open-pit coal mine -- Pakistan's first -- operated by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company, a joint venture between the Government of Sindh and the Engro Energy Corporation, in the Tharparkar District, Sindh province, Pakistan.

Pakistan's Thar coalfield within the Thar Desert has reserves of approximately 175 billion (as estimated by the Geological Survey of Pakistan), making it one of the largest lignite coal reserves in the world. The low energy coal in the Thar field was first discovered in 1992, but because of its poor quality, most companies found it too costly to mine. In 2012, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) took up the challenge as a means of tackling energy deficiency across Pakistan. Pakistan’s annual demand for coal exceeded supply so Pakistan has been relying on imported coal to fulfil its requirements, particularly for industrial uses. The overall objective of developing Thar coal deposits is to generate electric power from in-country coal resources, to reduce the country’s dependence on imported coal, and to contribute towards bridging the gap between electricity supply and demand.

In January 2014, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and former President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated the work on The Sindh Engro Coal Mining project, a joint venture between government of Sindh and Engro Corporation.

Completed in July 2019, the initial phase consisted of the mine with a capacity of 3.8 Mtpa. Thar Block II power station was also commissioned in 2019. Phase 2 of the project subsequently increased capacity to 7.6 Mtpa with completion achieved in 2022.

The mine is feeding the 660 MW Engro Powergen Thar Limited (EPTL,Thar Block II power station), the Thar Energy Limited power station and ThalNova power station.

Expansion

Phase 3: The Board of directors of the company in its 79th meeting approved the expansion of the mine to 11.2 Mtpa to cater to the requirements of Lucky Electric Power company (Port Qasim Lucky power station). Expected completion is in 2024.

Phase 4 and Further expansion: In an interview dated January 2024, the CEO of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company mentioned that the mine can potentially produced up to 30 million tonnes. The company has already started working on Phase 4 of the mine.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.