Mineral Resourses of Sylhet

The grater Sylhet region is the most enriched area of Bangladesh in mineral resources. A large quantity of the total proven gas reserve and the only oil field of the country are located here. The area has also vast deposit of limestone, peat, glass-sand hard- rock grave. But the economic value of hydrocarbon reserves are overwhelmingly dominant. The region is geologically known as the Surma Basin and covers the north-eastern parts of the foredeep and Folded-Belt division of the Bengal Basin which happens to be one of the most prominent tectonically-active sedimentary basins of the world. Parts of the Sylhet region which are apparently flat having are within the foredeep division while the hilly areas are called folded Belt. Thickness of the sedimentary pile with the foredeep area is in excess of 15 kilometers; the Folded Belt representing the uplifted parts of this sedimentary pile. This huge sedimentary body is dominantly composed of sand and mud with subordinated limestone which started depositing in a deep-basement (bottom of the basin being composed of igneous-metamorphic complex) basin about 5o million years ago with the gradual rise of the Himalayas due to collision between Indian and Burmese Plates and subsequent erosion. The sand-mud composition of the sedimentary body, along with technically-developed favorable structural set up (exposed and covered folds and faults mainly) have made the Sylhet region highly potential for occurrence of natural resources. Muds act as sources, sands as reservoirs, while folds (anticlines) act as traps for hydrocarbons (gas and oil). Age of the sediments, local geothermal gradient, pressure of the overburden etc. have been sufficient for the source materials to be"cooked" to from hydrocarbon.

Crude oil:

The only oil field of the country is located in Haripur of the Sylhet district, which, was discovered in 1986. Although a relatively large quantity of gas has been discovered in the county, the amount of oil discovery is very small. This is in a sharp contrast to many hydrocarbon provinces of the world where large volumes of both gas and oil co-exist. Geologists of our country are somewhat confused by this reality and most opine that exploration into even deeper sedimentary layers then those producing gas may help discover oil. The Horipur oil is discovered in sandstone layers within a subsurface fold called Sylhet Anticline which is about 13 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide; producing horizons are around 2000 meters depths and two closely spaced oil-horizons have been detected. Maximum oil reserve is estimated to be around 21 million barrels. Oil production under natural pressure was 400 barrels per day in 1987 which dropped to about 100 barrels in 1994 and since then it has remained suspended due to necessity of further development of the field. Between 1987 and 1994, a total of 0.56 million of crude oil have been produced. The quality of the Haripur oil is similar to that discovered in Assam.

Limestone:

Limestone of Eocene time are exposed on or close to the surface in the Takergaht-Lalghat areas of the north-western part of the Sylhet region along its border with the Indian state of Meghalaya. Reserve is about 30 million tons and it is the second largest discovered limestone in the country after the Jaipurhat. Preliminary reserve estimation was done in the sixties and seventies while the Geological Survey of Bangladesh in 1982 ascertained the reserve by putting 5 depths of about 30 to 100 meters below the surface, the deposit has a thickness of 152 meters and the reserve is estimated to be 17 million tons. In Lalghat and Takerghat areas limestone deposits occur at much shallow depths and their reserve are estimated to be about 10 and 2 million tons respectively. In these areas, limestone deposits are also sporadically exposed. The limestone body has brought to the surface by upliftment due to techtonic activity; most of its parts fall within the Indian Territory and Bangladesh sharply disappear under the alluvium cover in the south with a very high angle of dip. The Takerghat limestone deposit is being extracted since the Independence of Bangladesh and it’s reserve is fast diminishing. 

Coal:

Peat, Glass-sand, hard rock Gravel: about 2.5 million tons of peat reserve was discovered in the Maulvibazar area in the early fifties. The deposit occurs 1.5 meter from surface, 1.6 meter thick and extends over an area of about 10 square kilometers. Peat deposits also exist in the Pagla and Chorka areas of the Sunamgonj district, has an estimated reserve of about 3 million tons and at comparable thickness and deposits occur as modern sediments within valleys and floodplains.

Silica/Glass Sand:

Shahzibazar of the Hobigonj district has Glass-sand reserve of about 1.41 million tons which discovered in the early fifties is dominantly composed of silica (over 95%) and occur in centimeter scale lenses that appear within 1-2 meter from the surfacee.

Hard Rock:

Hard-rock gravels of up to 1 meter in diameter are found on the stream beds that drain the hilly areas of Meghalaya and fall on the flat land within Bangladesh territory along the northern parts of the Sylhet region. This is particularly prominent in Jafflong-tamabil areas where total estimated reserve is about 45.6 million cubic meters. Gravels occur both on the present streambeds and up to several meters depth. Please Visit Our Site for More Information