The energy ministry considers a feasibility study to take up a pilot project for an open pit mine as a test case in the Barapukuria underground coalmine from 2011. taking into account the ever-increasing energy crisis, sources say.
The government, in this regard, is seeking financial and technical assistance from the UNDP and the German donor organisation GTZ, both of which are willing to provide up to $3 million funding.
The sources say a professional group comprising European and local profes- sionals is likely to conduct the feasibility study and advise the government on this sensitive matter.
The feasibility study must be conducted within a short time, the sources inform.
Of the country's five identified coal deposits, that of Barapukuria and Phulbari are the nearest to surface, creating the possibility of an open pit mine that allows up to 90 percent extraction of coal.
The open pit method is widely applied in Indian mines including those in West Bengal from where the Indian subcontinent first began coal mining.
The Barapukuria deposit has 389
million tonnes of coal at a depth of 120-450 metres.
The present underground mine will tap less than 10 percent of its coal deposit, or only 30 million tonnes of coal, over a period of 30 years, although the government has invested a staggering Tk 1,600 crore for it.
Since the mine launched its production in 2005, it has produced around 2.5 million tonnes of coal, mine officials say. A 250-megawatt power plant at the mine site is the main consumer of this coal.
The mine has on average a very thick 36-metre high quality coal seam. Previously, during the last caretaker government regime a national coal committee headed by ex-Buet vice chancellor Prof Abdul Matin Patwari in 2008 recommended turning Barapukuria into an open pit mine on a test basis.
In a separate development, the Barapukuria Coal Mine Authority is conducting a report on whether an open pit mine is possible there by compiling the mine's data of its north and central location.
This report will be presented to Petrobangla soon, sources say.
If open pit mining in Barapukuria is found feasible, the government would spearhead the new mining project as a test case. If it is successful, the government would consider larger scale open pit mining, the sources point out.
The country's future demand for coal will shoot up significantly as the Power Development Board (PDB) is preparing to implement four 500 mw power projects based on imported coal.
These plants are intended to be implemented by 2014. If the Barapukuria mine can be developed into an open pit mine, it could cater a part of the demands of these plants.
The energy ministry in this connection last Thursday held a meeting with officials of UNDP, GTZ, Petrobangla, Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd, Power Development Board (PDB) and Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company. Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and State Minister for Energy Enamul Haq, among others, were present.
The UNDP made a presentation on various aspects of coal mining on the basis of studying various methodologies, while GTZ talked about its different social aspects.
The meeting discussed the possibility of open pit mines in two areas — Phulbari and Barapukuria - and converged that Barapukuria should be the first such case.
"But we need huge data to decide on an open pit mine then1 to extract -coal -front its northern and central zones. We need to conduct aerial survey and undertake feasibility study quickly," says a meeting source. Such mining will need an overhauled new miningdesign.
The existing underground mine's operational contract with its Chinese developer will end in 2011, while the government will complete all payment against the Chinese supplier’s credit for this project by 2012.
While other factors are also favourable for turning Barapukuria into an open pit mine, the national committee on protection of oil and gas has been opposing open pit mining in the country. The committee argues that this would cause environmental damage and people would lose arable land.
This committee has however not opposed to undergroundmining.
However, in reality the underground Barapukuria mine has already damaged arable land and underground water tables to a great extent as the mine design had never considered any environmental aspects.
The land damage has angered villagers around the mine, for which the Awami League government back in May signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the villagers assuring them of compensation and relocation.
About 4.2 square kilometres area of the underground Barapukuria coalmine site will eventually subside up to a maximum depth of two metres in the mine's 30 years lifetime. Petrobangla sources say.
Such subsidence will create a large lake, the sources point out. Residents of three to four villages -- which are not densely populated like most other villages of the country -adjacent to the mine will eventually have to be relocated.
Land subsidence in the mining area has been reported from 2006. In addition, an improper subsoil water extraction plan has dried up the common water reservoirs for around 15 adjacent villages.
Further, the mine is releasing environmentally hazardous water through canals affecting agriculture there.
The government is also working on developing a mining city in Barapukuria which would not only help voluntary relocation of the affected people but also function as a centre for mining education and provide jobs and other facilities.
A committee in this connection recommended several months Ago that the Barapukuria land area outside the mine which has subsided or will subside in future should be acquired by paying premium to the owners.
The 2,500-acre underground mine area includes 650 acres of agriculture land on the surface. The mine is directly affecting living of about 2,500 people in seven or eight villages.
"Resettlement of these people should not be very costly for the government," says a source.
The country imports around three million tonnes of low quality coal from India worth more than a thousand crore taka each year to cater the needs of brick kilns and various industries.