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BD coal mine project found feasible

DHAKA: An Australian company has found the Phulbari coal mine in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh technically and economically feasible for extraction.

Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Asia Energy Corporation (AEC) of Australia, has conducted the study and submitted the report to the government.

The report provides detailed findings of the study alongwith proposal to extract coal from the mine through the open-pit method and say it will be possible to extract nine million tonnes of coal annually while a coal-based 2100MW power plant can be set up near the mine.

According to the preliminary estimate, the development of the coal and the setting up of the power plant will cost US dollars three billion. The AEC, which is working in Bangladesh under an agreement signed with the government, will invest to implement the project.

The company has already applied for renewal of its exploration licence to carry out further field work to complete a detailed feasibility study. The renewal of the licence is under active consideration of the government.

The huge deposit of high quality coal at Phulbari in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh was discovered at a depth of 151 metres in January by BHP Minerals, a US-Australian Company under an agreement with the Bangladesh government. The deposit of coal at Phulbari was estimated at about 400 million tonnes.

The BHP later transferred the rights to develop the coal mine to Australian Company AEC.

An agreement was signed between the government of Bangladesh and AEC in 1998. According to that agreement AEC conducted the preliminary study on Phulbari Coal Mine Project. APP