J. Cent. South Univ.

(2018) 25: 1162−1172

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-018-3815-7

Sustainable lignite resource planning at Thar coalfield, Pakistan

Fahad Irfan SIDDIQUI1, Abdul Ghani PATHAN1, Bahtiyar ÜNVER2, Güneş ERTUNÇ2

1. Department of Mining Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology,

Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan;
2. Department of Mining Engineering, Hacettepe University, Beyttepe Ankara 06800, Turkey
© Central South University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract: Thar coalfield is a new coalfield in Pakistan with estimated lignite resource of more than 175 billion tons.
Resource planning is an essential part of the strategic plan for optimal and economical exploitation of Thar lignite. Main
objective of the present research is to assess Thar coalfield as a single deposit and identify the areas suitable for surface
mining, underground mining and waste dump at Thar coalfield. The cumulative stripping ratio distribution map has
been developed for Thar coalfield, covering an area of 1691.04 km2 around 12 exploratory blocks. Lithological data of
693 drill holes have been used to calculate the cumulative stripping ratio in every borehole, which varies from 3.7 m:m
to 88.1 m:m with an average value of 12.85 m:m. Cumulative stripping ratio is divided into six ranges, viz: 4–6, 6–8,
8–10, 10–15, 15–20 and >20 m:m. Contours are digitized around all boreholes showing various ranges of stripping
ratios. From the cumulative stripping ratio distribution map, it is concluded that 665.72 km2 area, which constitutes
39.37% of the total assessed area, is suitable for surface mining and 989.82 km2 area, constituting 58.53%, is
appropriate for underground mining and outside waste dumps. Whereas, 2.1% area is no coal zone, only suitable for
outside waste dumping. The developed map of cumulative stripping ratio distribution may be used as a guide map for
the preparation of mining master plan for Thar coalfield.

Key words: openpit; stripping ratio; Surpac; sustainable development; Thar coalfield

Cite this article as: Fahad Irfan SIDDIQUI, Abdul Ghani PATHAN, Bahtiyar ÜNVER, Güneş ERTUNÇ. Sustainable
lignite resource planning at Thar coalfield, Pakistan [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2018, 25(5): 1165–1172.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-018-3815-7.

shortage of oil and gas supply, excessive

1 Introduction transmission and distribution losses, substantial
circular debt, political & bureaucratic
Pakistan is facing the worst electricity shortfall overlapping and last but not least, the non-
of its history, due to a persistent and widening gap development of indigenous energy resources.
between supply and demand. In June, 2014, the Currently, Pakistan is spending an upward of
deficit reached up to 5000 MW while the generating US$ 14 billion on imports of crude oil, petroleum
capacity was 13250 MW of electricity and the products, coal, LPG etc, to meet energy
demand varied around 18000 MW. There are requirements [1].
number of reasons that contribute towards perennial Coal is the predominant fuel used for
electricity deficit, reduced production of electricity electricity generation worldwide and account for
by independent power producers (IPPs) due to the 41% of overall worldwide electricity generation [2].
Received date: 2017−02−15; Accepted date: 2017−06−05
Corresponding author: Fahad Irfan SIDDIQUI, Master of Engineering, Assistant Professor; Tel: +92−333−3783844; E-mail:
fahad_03mn@hotmail.com; ORCID: 0000-0002-2094-2236
1166
Unfortunately, the share of coal in electricity
generation in Pakistan is very negligible (less than
1%) as compared to world average. Pakistan has
huge coal deposit at Thar coalfield, containing more
than 175 billion tons of lignite resources. Thar coal
resources have an estimated potential of generating
50000 MW of electricity for a period of 400 years;
thus, providing an opportunity for large scale
mining & power generation over a long period of
time. The Thar lignite is still unexploited due to a
number of reasons, e.g., political instability, law &
order situation, unclear mineral/coal policy, lack of
planning, non-technical executives, and
bureaucratic obstacles.
Intelligent planning is required for sustainable
development of Thar coalfield keeping in view of
the principles of sustainable planning and
development. Sustainability is regarded as the most
critical factor for strategic mine planning and
development.
For large-scale lignite exploitation, it would be
appropriate to thoroughly review the likely impacts
in terms of their implications for sustainable
development and must be in accordance with the
current legislation for environmental protection,
energy efficiency, optimal lignite resource
utilization, materials saving, recycling and reuse [3].
Many developed and developing countries have
devised their long-term lignite production and
utilization policies and plans based on the principles
of sustainable and responsible mining [4–14]. LIAO
et al [15] devised a master plan of Fuxin coal mine
area in China by combining ecological vulnerability
index and coal reserve estimates and designated
five different exploitation zones, appropriate,
optimized, moderate, restrictive and forbidden
zones. It is suggested that the developed plan may
be used to optimize existing mining operation at
Fuxin mining area. DANICIC et al [6] thoroughly
scrutinized the technical and economical issues
resulted from improper initial planning at opencast
lignite mines in Serbia. A identified number of
challenges need to be addressed for sustainable
development of Indian coal sector. SUTCU [16]
carried out a GIS-based study to produce potential
coalfield map at Milas-Yatagan Basin, Turkey. The
potential coalfield map was classified into five
categories as very high, high, medium, low and
very low probability areas based on probability
index values.
ÜNVER et al [17] proposed an innovative
J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172
and sustainable method of brownfield planning
based on cumulative stripping ratio. The method
has been successfully applied at Karapinar coal
deposits located at inner Anatolia, Turkey. Seam
thicknesses and levels were highly heterogeneous
and variable, which were impossible to correlate
seams to form 3D solids; therefore, cumulative
stripping ratios were calculated for each seam and
contours of cumulative stripping values were
effectively utilized for openpit geometry and
volume calculations.
Twelve exploration blocks are developed at
Thar coalfield. All blocks are explored and assessed
independently. Thus the true picture of resource
distribution in coalfield area has not been evolved.
It is crucial to assess Thar coalfield as a single
deposit for the development of mining master plan.
Keeping in view of the importance of the matter,
this research project was conceived to assess Thar
coalfield as a single deposit and identify the areas
suitable for surface mining, underground mining
and waste dump at Thar coalfield. The basic idea of
this approach is to obtain cumulative stripping ratio
in every borehole and digitize the contours of
different stripping ratios around all boreholes in 12
exploration blocks at Thar coalfield. The research
has led to the development of cumulative stripping
ratio distribution map to establish the appropriate
areas for surface mining, underground mining and
waste dump.
2 Case study
2.1 Exploration history and current status of
Thar field
Thar coalfield is situated at district of
Tharparkar, Sindh Province, Pakistan between
latitudes 24o15'N–25o45'N and longitudes 69o45'E–
70o45'E. Thar coalfield is connected with Karachi
by 410 km metaled road. The location of the
coalfield is shown in Figure 1. Bara formation of
Paleocene/Eocene age is the coal bearing formation
and contains various lignite seams. Sandy/silty
claystone and sandstones are major coal-measure
rocks of Bara formation. The average thickness is
around 95 m, lying at a depth of 100 m to 220 m
[18, 19]. The basement rock is slightly to
moderately weathered granite comprising fine to
coarse grains of quartz. The carbonaceous clay
stone is medium light grey to brown in colour
J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172
containing carboniferous petrified roots,
carbonaceous materials and rare sandy resin
globules. The olive grey to dark-grey claystone
containing petrified coal roots and pyretic resin
globules overlies this sediment [20]. A number of
coal seams ranging from 0.5 to 21 m thickness
occur at an average depth of 180 m. The sub-recent
formation overlies the Bara formation. It comprises
of siltstone, sandstone, claystone, with average
thickness of 70 m and lies at the depth of 52–125 m.
The recent formation overlying the sub-recent
formation consists of sand dunes. This sand is fine
to medium grained, yellowish grey in color
containing sub-rounded and moderately sorted
grains of ferromagnesian minerals. Figure 1 shows
the general lithology of the Thar coalfield.
The earliest indication of coal at Thar was
reported in 1980 during water well drilling at
Khokharpar, drilled by UNICEF/PHED. Later in
1988, British Overseas Development Agency (ODA)
and Sindh Arid Zone Development Authority
(SAZDA) discovered coal while drilling water
wells near village of Khario Ghulam Shah [21]. The
core samples and drill cuttings were analyzed by
Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) and United
States Geological Survey (USGS) and confirmed
the presence of lignite in the area. In 1989,
GSP/USGS carried out geophysical logging of
water wells and ascertained occurrence of thick coal
bed in Thar area. Detailed exploration was carried
out jointly by USGS and GSP under Coal
Resources Exploration & Assessment Program
(COALREAP) from 1989 to 1994. A total of 21
boreholes were drilled at large spacing of more than
Figure 1 General lithology of Thar coalfield, Pakistan [23]
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18 km to ascertain the occurrence of coal in entire
Thar region [22, 23]. Hypothetical lignite resources
of Thar field are anticipated around 175.506 billion
tons. To date, 12 exploration/administrative blocks
have been explored separately by various agencies
viz: GSP, Shenhua Group (China), Rheinbraun
(Germany), Sindh-Engro Coal Mining Company
(SECMC), Deep Rock Drilling (DRD), Sino-Sindh
Resources, Oracle coalfields, from 1994 to 2012.
Figure 2 shows the location of boreholes completed
by various exploring agencies.
2.2 Borehole database
The lithological data from 693 boreholes
drilled by different exploration agencies from 1994
to 2012 in all 12 blocks of Thar coalfield is used in
this research. The obtained information includes,
northing and easting coordinates, elevation, dip &
azimuth, and geological intercepts. All the
exploration data were maintained in excel sheets
and exported to Geovia Surpac 6.2 geological
database. Table 1 presents the structure of Surpac
geological database used in this research.
2.3 Cumulative stripping ratio calculations and
contours digitization
The stripping ratio is the governing economic
parameter, on the basis of which it is decided to
exploit the coal either by developing an open pit
mine or an underground operation. It is commonly
defined as the ratio of waste to coal and can be
expressed in various terms such as t : t, m3: t,
m3 : m3, and m : m. Cumulative stripping ratio is
considered in multiple seam environment, which
1168 J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172

Figure 2 Location of drillholes in all exploration blocks completed by different companies

Table 1 Structure of Surpac geological database used in also includes the interburden waste between the
this research seams. The aim of this research is to establish
Item Parameter Description appropriate areas for different mining operations at
bh_id Borehole identification Thar coalfield based on cumulative stripping ratio
distribution. The basic idea of this approach is to
x Easting
obtain cumulative stripping ratio for each coal
Collar y Northing
interval in every borehole and digitize the contours
z Elevation
of different stripping ratios. The m:m stripping ratio
max_depth Total depth of a borehole is used in this study.
bh_id Borehole identification A short sub-routine developed by ÜNVER
max_depth Total depth of a borehole et al [17], is used to calculate stripping ratio for
Survey
Dip Dip angle of a drillhole each coal interval in all the boreholes, using
Azimuth Azimuth bearing of a drillhole MATLAB platform. Figure 3 shows a flow chart of
the program structure. The obtained cumulative
bh_id Borehole identification
stripping ratio values for all boreholes were
Starting point of a geological
From imported to Surpac geological database. An
intercept
To End point of a geological intercept example of cumulative stripping ratio calculated for
Geology
Lithology Rock type each coal interval in different boreholes is shown in
Thickness Thickness of geological interval
Figure 4.
The stripping ratio contour digitization process
Csr Cumulative stripping ratio
involves four steps, starting with snap point
J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172
Figure 3 MATLAB program structure for calculation of
cumulative stripping ratio
digitization of minimum stripping ratio value in
every borehole column. In the 2nd step, raw
polygons are made from individual points having
similar stripping ratio values. The third and fourth
steps involve smoothing of raw polygons and
triangulation of string polygons to form colored
contours showing different cumulative stripping
ratio classes. Figure 5 shows schematic
representation of contour digitization process.
Figure 5 Schematic representation of contour digitization procedure: (a) Point snap digitization; (b) Raw polygons;
(c) Smooth polygons; (d) Triangulation
1169
Figure 4 Cumulative stripping ratio calculated for
successive coal intervals
3 Results and discussion
Cumulative stripping ratio in every borehole
has been calculated, which varies from 3.7 m:m to
88.1 m:m, with an average value of 12.85 m:m.
Cumulative stripping ratio is divided into six ranges,
viz: 4–6, 6–8, 8–10, 10–15, 15–20 and >20 m : m.
Based on these ranges, cumulative stripping ratio
distribution map has been developed, covering an
area of 1691.04 km2, as shown in Figure 6. Cut-off
cumulative stripping ratio for surface mining
operation is taken as 10. It should be kept in mind
that cumulative stripping ratio values are calculated
on borehole data basis and the results can be
1170 J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172

Figure 6 Cumulative stripping ratio distribution in all exploration blocks

used to preliminarily determine the openpit and

underground mining areas.
From the cumulative stripping ratio
distribution map, it is calculated that 665.72 km2
area, which constitutes 39.37% of the total assessed
area, is suitable for surface mining and 989.82 km2
area, constituting 58.53%, is appropriate for
underground mining and outside waste dumps. The
waste material excavated from surface mines can be
dumped on top of the underground mining areas.
Whereas, 2.1% area is no coal zone, only suitable
for outside waste dumping.
Figure 7 shows the block wise distribution of Figure 7 Distribution of surface, underground and no-
underground, surface and no-zone areas. It is clear coal zone areas in different blocks
from Figure 7, that blocks II, VI and VIII are highly
suitable of surface mining operations. Whereas, Details of area distribution in different
blocks IIIB, VII, XI and XII are suitable for stripping ratio classes are summarized in Table 2.
underground mining. Blocks I, III, IV, V, IX and X The area of the minimum cumulative stripping ratio
are partly suitable for both surface and underground class (4–6) is 70.08 km2 which mostly occurs in
mining operations. blocks II and VIII. Similarly, the areas of the
J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172 1171

Table 2 Details of areas falls in different stripping ratio classes

Surface mining area/km2 Underground mining area/km2 No-coal zone Total
Block
4–6 6–8 8–10 10–15 15–20 >20 area/km2 area/km2

I 6.48 39.96 13.68 60.12 49.01 6.04 0 55.05 0 115.17

II 21.84 39.32 10.27 71.43 7.99 0 0 7.99 0 79.42
III 0 24.56 23.34 47.9 42.13 0 0.97 43.1 0 91.01
IIIb 0 3.26 1.36 4.62 24.84 0 25.68 50.52 3.99 59.14
IV 10.81 39.24 0.62 50.67 30.41 0.8 0 31.21 0 81.89
V 0 16.52 10.48 27 36.15 0 0 36.15 0 63.15
VI 0 54.78 10.26 65.04 0.86 0 0 0.86 0 65.9
VII 0 0.02 24.78 24.8 75.05 0 0 75.05 0 99.84
VIII 24.26 33.69 0 57.95 9.82 0 0 9.82 25.61 93.38
IX 0.36 4.58 41.42 46.36 44.92 0 6.92 51.84 0 98.2
X 0 0 40.71 40.71 57.12 0 0 57.12 0 97.83
XI 0 0 0 0 5.02 30.65 72.55 108.22 0 108.22
XII 0 4.2 21.6 25.8 32.16 18.55 5.78 56.49 0 82.29
Inter block area 7.06 75.9 60.38 143.34 211.7 105.46 89.2 406.36 5.91 555.62
Total 70.8 336.03 258.89 665.72 627.19 161.51 201.11 989.82 35.51 1691.04

maximum cumulative stripping ratio class (>20)
occurs mostly in inter-block area, blocks IX and
IIIb. The maximum no-coal area of 25.61 km2 was
found in block VIII, i.e 70% of the total no-coal
zone in entire Thar field.
4 Conclusions
The main objective of the present research is
to establish specific areas/sections for particular
mining operation. The cumulative stripping ratio
distribution map has been developed for Thar
coalfield, by obtaining cumulative stripping ratio
for each coal interval in every borehole and
digitizes the contours of different stripping ratios
around the boreholes. The map provides a technical
justification to allocate different exploration blocks
for appropriate mining operation. On the basis of
cut off stripping ratio of 10:1 m:m, it is concluded
that 39.89% of total blocks area is suitable for
surface mining and 57.97% is appropriate for
underground mining and outside waste dumps,
whereas 2.12% area is no coal zone, only suitable
for outside waste dumping.
It is the first time, that Thar coalfield has been
evaluated as a whole, which is necessary for the
preparation of development plan. Otherwise,
improper planning and locations of open pits would
certainly lead to irreversible loss of resources. The
developed cumulative stripping ratio distribution
map may be used as guide map for future planning
of Thar Coal resource.
Acknowledgment
Authors are grateful to British Council,
Pakistan, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan
and Mehran University of Engineering &
Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan for providing
financial support under INSPIRE program (SP-247)
for this study. Authors are also thankful to Thar
Coal Energy Board (TCEB), Energy Department
Government of Sindh Pakistan for providing the
necessary exploration data. Authors also like to
express their profound gratitude to Hacettepe
University, Ankara, Turkey for providing necessary
support for the conduct of this research.
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中文导读
巴基斯坦 Thar 煤田的可持续褐煤资源规划
摘要：Thar 煤田是巴基斯坦的一个新煤田，估计褐煤资源超过 1750 亿吨。资源规划是战略规划的重要组
成部分，是优化和经济开发 Thar 褐煤的重要组成部分。本研究的主要目的是将 Thar 煤田作为单一矿床进
行评价，并确定适合在 Thar 煤田进行地表开采、地下开采和排土场开采的区域。为 Thar 煤田编制了累积
剥蚀比分布图，覆盖面积达 1691.04 km2，有 12 个勘探区块。利用 693 个钻孔的岩性资料，计算了每个钻
孔的累积剥蚀率(3.7–88.1 m ：m)，平均值为 12.85 m ：m。累计剥蚀率分 6 个范围，分别为 4–6，6–8，8–10，
10–15，15–20 和>20。所有钻孔周围的等高线都被数字化，显示出不同的剥离比范围。从累积剥蚀率分布
图可以看出，665.72 km2 的面积(占评估总面积的 39.37%)适合地表开采，989.82 km2 的面积(占 58.53%)适
合于地下开采和外部废物堆放。而 2.1%的地区不属于煤区，只适合于外部倾倒废物。所开发的累积剥蚀率
分布图可作为制定 Thar 煤田开采总体规划的指导图。
关键词：露天矿；剥蚀率；Surpac；可持续发展；Thar 煤田
J. Cent. South Univ. (2018) 25: 1165–1172
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