Geological Resources in Bangladesh

Sources:

http://www.gsb.gov.bd/rve/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas_in_Bangladesh

http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/R_0273.htm

                Mineral deposits of Bangladesh include:

-          Coal                                       - White Clay

-          Peat                                       - Glass Sand

-          Limestone                           - Hard Rock

-          Gravel Deposit                  - (Heavy) Mineral Sand

A good portion of these, such as Hard Rock were terms which were very vague to me, so I looked into hard rock and glass sand a little further.

It turns out that hardrock vs softrock can refer to the setting in which the geologist studying the deposits works. Hard rock in particular refers to a setting in which the geologist in question is studying igneous or metamorphic petrology. So basically (as far as I can tell) Bangladesh specializes in mining bedrock of an igneous or metamorphic origin, which it presumably uses to build foundations to a stronger infrastructure. Glass sand is essentially sand composed of silicas like quartz and feldspars and is therefore better suited to making glass. Heavy mineral sand is essentially sand made up of minerals such as Zircon, Magnetite and Rutile which may be found on coastal beaches (ancient or contemporary).

Apart from the aforementioned mineral deposits, Bangladesh has a pretty enormous natural gas output which makes sense given the fact that peat and shale are some of its major deposits. Apparently most of the vehicles driving around Bangladesh are fueled by gas rather than liquid fuel which had brought down carbon emissions in the country. Natural gas is definitely Bangladesh’s biggest natural resource. Gas is generally found in the Miocene and Pleistocene deposits between 1,000m and 3,500m beneath the surface in sandstone and shale deposits (reservoirs). These hydrocarbon reservoirs are essentially places where natural gas or oil migrates to and accumulates over time. It makes sense therefore that the reservoirs in Bangladesh are mostly found in sandstone deposits due to the fact that sandstone has high porosity- lots of space in between particles for the gas to reside in.  Most of these natural gas reservoirs or fields are found in the Indo-Burman ranges or rather, the eastern parts of the country, according to banglapedia.

The government owns all of the mineral rights in Bangladesh (a fact which popped up in almost every search I did).