Bhutan exported to India, Bangladesh and Japan, a total of Nu 94.491 million last year from its dolomite, limestone, gypsum, stone, and coal, talc and quartzite deposits. This was an increase of 32.4% on 2008 exports.
Government royalty came to 4.6% of the revenue, while mines royalty comprised 0.7%.
According to the National Revenue Report, in the 2007-2008 financial year Jigme Mining Company, with revenue of Nu 23.972, was number two on the top ten lists of private businesses.
A source from the Department of Geology and Mines (DGM), said that Jigme Mining Company last year extracted and exported 12m metric tons of dolomite.
Dolomite was the country’s top export, with a total of 1,247m metric ton being exported last year. This is compared to the previous year’s export of 573,554.378 metric ton.
Dolomites are categorized in three different categories – powder, lumps and chips. The price for lumps and chips remained the same in 2007, and in 2009 was set at US$ 26 per metric ton.
Powdered dolomite decreased from a price of US$ 30 to US$ 28. It is believed the reason for this drop, was the establishment of proper auctioning procedures for dolomite.
One mineral exporter from Bhutan said that the decrease in the selling price of Bhutan’s powdered dolomite may have increased the export volume.
The second most exported mineral was stones. In the year 2007, Bhutan exported 101,576.86 metric ton to neighbouring countries and this volume increased by 20,390.97 metric ton in 2008.
While the price of stone per metric ton in 2007 and 2008 remained the same at US$ 15, there was an increase in stone exports because Druk Mining Company, a major exporter of construction stones, was generating basic rocks and exporting them to other countries that year.
Limestone exports decreased by 7,777.05 metric ton in 2008 compared to the previous year of 96,836.28 to 89,059.32, though the price remained same at US$ 35 per metric ton. This decrease was because only two mining companies were allowed to mine limestone and the production for these two mines decreased that year.
Talc, a mineral used in the manufacturing of stoves, sinks electrical switchboards and talcum powders, reached an export level of 56,077.39 in 2008 with a purchase price of US$ 5 per metric ton for the same year.
This compares to 2005 when only 53 metric ton of talc was used domestically. The following year, it was not used in Bhutan at all, as it was all exported. This was the year a talc powdering unit was set up according to Pema Tshering from the Department of Geology and Mines.
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We are interested to import di calcium phosphate from Bhutan for marketing in Bangladesh. But we don,t know who is the right supplier for this product. Please send the name, address and e-mail number of di calcium phosphate( DCP) exporter.
Dear sir,
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Thanking by
Alamgir Hossain
thats a very valuable info. thanks for writing such article.
iam from india and i wish to know about bhutan’s natural resources iam keenly interrested in small scale mining eg- talc, beryl and other gemstones. but i cannot get any related links on net.
it would be very helpful of your team if you can get me some info. regarding my pursuit