OUR potential mineral wealth makes headlines in the media from time to time — from copper in Saindak, coal in Thar, and gold and copper in Reko Diq to iron and gold in Chiniot and gold in Attock. The actual yearly output of extracted minerals and their contribution to our GDP, however, seldom surfaces in the news as there’s nothing out of the ordinary in that data. The share of the mining and quarrying sector has stayed mostly between two to three per cent of GDP for the last 25 years. The latest reported share was 2.1pc of GDP at current prices in FY25. This share translates into $8.6 billion of a GDP of $407bn. The sector has declined continuously for the last four years. This, of course, does not rule out potential future spurts in mineral output, however unlikely it may be at this point, judging by past headlines and ensuing developments.
How does Pakistan compare with other countries in terms of actual mineral extraction? Let us explore this by browsing through the treasure trove contained in World Mining Data, 2025, (ministry of finance, Austria). This source provides mining data for 166 countries, including Pakistan, for the year 2023. WMD measured the total world mineral output at $5.5 trillion, of which Pakistan’s share stood at $8.3bn. While minuscule compared to the world total, Pakistan’s rank was 51 out of 166 countries in 2023. Compare this to Pakistan’s rank of 168 out of 193 countries in the 2023 Human Development Index. This comparison tells us that our mineral resources are way more developed than our human resources! This, of course, is an unfair comparison, but it brings out the underdevelopment of both our mineral and human resource sectors, as well as the lopsided priorities of our development planning. Nevertheless, we can say that Pakistan is not faring badly in mineral extraction. There seems to be much potential in expanding this output and undertaking new explorations pertaining to existing minerals as well as new prized minerals such as rare earth elements.
WMD revealed another interesting fact: the bulk of the value of extracted output comes from mineral fuels (petroleum, gas, coal and uranium) which were valued at $6.8bn, or 82pc of the total extracted value in 2023. Pakistan ranked relatively higher at 40 out of 166 countries in mineral fuels, demonstrating that it is not a resource-poor country in this category. Only 15 countries extracted uranium in 2023; Pakistan, extracting 53 tons of uranium, was one of them. Interestingly, the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25, which published the extracted amounts of 21 principal minerals, did not include uranium in its list. The US produced only 23 tons of uranium, just about half Pakistan’s amount, according to WMD. Pakistan ranked 13 in world uranium production. Kazakhstan ranked the highest with some 25,000 tons. India produced 708 tons. As uranium is used in running nuclear reactors to produce green and low-cost electricity, the importance of its exploration in Pakistan cannot be overemphasised.
How does Pakistan compare with other countries in terms of actual mineral extraction?
WMD classified minerals into five broad categories: iron and ferro-alloy metals, non-ferrous metals, precious metals, industrial minerals and mineral fuels. As Pakistan did not extract precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.), its relatively higher global ranking is more surprising. It seems that our well-endowed mineral bounties are waiting for optimal utilisation, which can strengthen and retain our human resources that are being pushed out of Pakistan in significant numbers. Pakistan’s rank in terms of the value of iron and ferro-alloy metals was 37 in 2023 — far better than Saudi Arabia’s ranking of 63. Readers of WMD can glean enough information from its contents to realise that we are not poor in natural resources. The fact that our human resources are of mediocre quality has everything to do with our political and economic policies. Despite being one of the 37 countries that extracted iron ore, Pakistan has not produced any pig iron in the last nine years because of the closure of the Pakistan Steel Mills, which smelted iron ore in its ballast furnace to make iron. It’s ironic that Pakistan produces steel by importing scrap, which means spending precious foreign exchange. Iron ore is exported, while a few local mills smelt the scrap taking advantage of the closure of PSM whose revival would raise the level of competition to an uncomfortable level.
In the extraction of non-ferrous metals (rare earth minerals belong to this category), Pakistan ranked 58 with a value of $271 million in 2023. This value may increase manifold when the mining of rare earth elements, driven by foreign investment, gets underway in earnest and the extracted material is exported. In 2023, only 11 countries mined rare earths. China, at 66.2pc, topped global rare earth production, followed by Myanmar with a 14.8pc share. The US ranked third with a share of 10.8pc, followed by Australia, Madagascar, India, Russia and five other countries. Even though the number of rare earth producers is very small, not all are economically developed. This shows that rare earth extraction does not necessarily lead to prosperity. As in the case of iron ore, bauxite — a non-ferrous metal — is also exported, when it could have been used to produce aluminium. Globally, Pakistan ranked 26th in bauxite mining in 2023. Aluminium is indeed produced in our country but relies on the import of aluminium scrap or recycling domestic scrap. The good thing is the environment-friendly aspect of our aluminium and iron industries.
In terms of industrial minerals, Pakistan ranked 28th globally in 2023 with a value of $605m. Our rank in mining baryte was 11, feldspar 15, fluorspar 16, gypsum 19, and rock salt 17. Our rank in rock salt could have been higher as Pakistan holds the second largest deposits of rock salt in the world. Obviously, the global demand for sacks of crude rock salt is limited and we hardly produce any quality value-added rock salt products. While the mining sector has exciting potential for our country and can progress a lot with foreign investment, the path to development lies in our human resource development.
The writer is a former deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2026
