Bangladesh: Heavy minerals discovered in Cox’s Bazar

For a decade or so, BAEC scientists have been studying the sea beach where the minerals were found. The minerals are scattered in an area of about 8,000 hectares of land in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh's foremost tourist resort area, about 390 kilometres from the capital Dhaka.

Bangladeshi authorities have already set up a government committee to manage the resources.

An Australian firm, Premier Mineral Company, a few months ago applied for development of the mineral resources from the beach.

Many heavy minerals found in Bangladesh are in high demand, both at home and abroad. For this reason, exploiting such resources will require cooperation or a joint venture with foreign countries with experience in mineral development, Mosharraf told AsiaNews.

Ilmenite, leucoxene and rutile are important because they contain some of the highest concentrations of titanium.

The world’s main titanium deposits are in Australia, North America, Scandinavia and Malaysia.