Millions of dollars worth of minerals are hidden in the sands of Cox’s Bazar beach where thousands of tourists walk every day. The name of this valuable mineral used in space technology, jet engine or nuclear industry is ‘Zircon’. This mineral deposit has been identified in 17 places from Cox’s Bazar to Kuakata. Conventional reserves of zircon are about 158,000 tons; However, experts say this information is decades old. Actual reserves may be much higher. But this potential resource is still neglected. A few countries including Australia and private companies have shown interest in investing, but no government has responded. Cox’s Bazar mineral sand extraction center is also now at a standstill. Only four people are working in the manpower structure of 80 people, most of the machinery is non-functional. Scientists say, along with zircon, there are important heavy minerals like ilmenite, rutile, garnet, magnetite, kyanite and monazite in the sand of Cox’s Bazar. If these minerals can be extracted and processed through modern technology while ensuring environmental protection, it will open a new horizon in industrialization of the country, earning foreign exchange and employment. According to the researchers, it contains the main impurity titanium oxide (about 3.1 percent), as well as small amounts of iron oxide and other elements. Microscopic analysis shows that about 94 percent of the sample is zircon and the rest is rutile, ilmenite and monazite. My bangla/ rabbi
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Billion dollars worth of zircon in the sand
