Coal mining in Nepal

Deposits of coal are found in Tosh, Siuja, Azimara and Abidhara in Dang, and a few other places in Sallyan, Rolpa, Pyuthan and Palpa districts of Nepal.[1] The total estimated deposits are about 5 million tons. Due to the low volume of deposits, mining is done by traditional methods. The mines have been exploited since the early 1960s; however due to lack of proper markets,[clarification needed] they are not exploited to their full capacity.

## Deposits

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Geologically, the main coal deposits can be categorized into:[2]

* Quaternary Lignite deposits of Kathmandu Valley
* Siwalik coal found in the Sub-Himalayas
* Cretaceous-Eocene coal and Gondwana coal found in the Lesser Himalayas[3]

The coal in the Sub-Himalaya (Siwalik/Churia) has some radioactive minerals mixed in the coal.[4]

## Production

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There are 11 small scale coal mines that are in operation scattered throughout Nepal.[5] Some additional licenses are issued by the government for exploration.[6] The annual production is shown in table below.[3]

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|

Year  | Production
(metric tons)

|

2009/10 | 7,867
2010/11 | 9,935
2011/12 | 10,499
2012/13 | 13,838
2013/14 | 8,151
2014/15 | 6,754
2015/16 | 2,900
2016/17 | 7,025
2018 | 11,522

## Environmental concerns

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Some lands have started to cave-in and some landslides have been triggered near the mining area. Also, the ground water has dried up. This has caused conflict between locals and mine operators.[5]

## See also

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* Mineral resources of Nepal

## References

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1. ^ FNCCI. "Minerals & Mining - Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry [FNCCI]". Archived from the original on 2021-06-09. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
2. ^ Sah, Ram Bahadur; Paudyal, Kabi Raj (2019). "Geological control of mineral deposits in Nepal". Journal of Nepal Geological Society. 58: 189–197\. doi:10.3126/jngs.v58i0.24604. ISSN 2676-1378. S2CID 200082300.
3. ^ a b Kumar, Shiv. "COAL RESOURCES AND THEIR STATUS IN NEPAL": 19. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
4. ^ Paudel, Devi Prasad (2019). "Present Status and Utilization of the Mineral Resources in Nepal". The Third Pole: Journal of Geography Education: 85–96\. doi:10.3126/ttp.v18i0.28009. ISSN 2392-4322. S2CID 226774126.
5. ^ a b "Palpa folk concerned about adverse effects of coal mining". Archived from the original on 2021-06-09. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
6. ^ "Mineral Resources of Nepal and their present status – Nepal Geological Society". Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-06-09.