Marble is one of the important dimension stones used for verity of purposes including exterior and interior decoration of buildings. Leading countries in the production and export of marble including China, Italy, India, Spain, Brazil and US etc., have developed their marble sectors on scientific grounds by applying modern techniques. Pakistan also hosts huge reserves of different qualities of marble but this sector could not developed to the international standards due to a number of difficulties. As a result of these problems, the raw marble excavated from quarries carries less economic value and could not compete in the international market. Marble industry of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is selected for this study because major activities in this sector are being carried out in this province where more than 90% of the country’s reserves are located. The research documented here highlights and evaluates different problems faced by the marble industry in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan and mitigation plan is proposed to overcome these problems with the aim to develop the marble mining sector for improved product quality and subsequent processing for efficient mining and export of marble according to international standards.
Research Article · Volume 39, Issue 1, 14 February 2021 · Open Access
Mitigation Plan for Identified Problems Faced by the Marble Industry in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
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Affiliations & Notes ⌄
- 1Department of Mining Engineering, UET Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
- 2Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta, Pakistan *Correspondence: Salim Raza, Department of Mining Engineering, UET Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
- 3Email: raza@uetpeshawar.edu.pk
Article Info ⌄
- Journal:
- Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- Published:
- 14 February 2021

Abstract
Figures

Dimension stone production of the world (Rehman et al., 2018).

Blocks loading with the help of a simple winch machine used in Buner area.

Marble quarry sites in Mohmand Ex-Agency (Source: Khan, 2018).

Five working faces were closed due to accumulation of waste on the sites in district Buner.

Accident occur due to high and hanging working face fall at Ziarat marble quarry, District Muhmand in September 2020.


Irregular/potato shaped blocks (waste) produced during existing marble extraction techniques in District Nowshera.

Waste produced as a result of marble processing in a processing unit in District Buner.

Cracks developed in the block due to indiscriminate blasting under the existing mining techniques in District Mardan.
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