page_title: Koh-i-Sultan
section_title: Mining and mineral deposits
hierarchical_section_title: Koh-i-Sultan / Mining and mineral deposits
caption_attribution_description: English: Sulfur
context_page_description: Koh-i-Sultan is a volcano in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is part of the tectonic belt formed by the collision of India and Asia: specifically, a segment influenced by the subduction of the Arabian plate beneath the Asian plate and forming a volcanic arc which includes the Bazman and Taftan volcanoes in Iran. The volcano consists of three main cones, with heavily eroded craters running west-northwest and surrounded by a number of subsidiary volcanic centres. Its summit is 2,334 metres high, and the crater associated with the Miri cone has a smaller crater inside.
  The volcano is formed by andesite and dacite rocks, with fragmentary rocks prevailing over lava flows. The rocks have typical arc-volcano chemistry and composition, with a progression from andesite to dacite in the eruption products with younger age. Potassium-argon dating has indicated an age range from 5,900,000 to 90,000 years. Subsequent erosion has generated a large debris apron around the base of the volcano and carved rock formations which impressed early explorers; one well-known rock formation is Neza e Sultan.
context_section_description: A number of minerals are found at Koh-i-Sultan; sulfur is the most important. Reserves were estimated in 1976 at 85,000 tonnes (84,000 long tons; 94,000 short tons) of sulfur ore, 47,000 tonnes (46,000 long tons; 52,000 short tons) of which were high-grade and 38,000 tonnes (37,000 long tons; 42,000 short tons) low-grade ore. Sulfur is found on Sultan's southern flank, where it originated from solfatara activity. According to a 1975 report, about 20 tonnes per day (0.23 long ton/ks) of 50-percent-sulfur ore were mined; the report indicated that between 1941 and 1944, 66,700 tonnes (65,600 long tons; 73,500 short tons) of ore were produced. The recovery of sulfur, asafoetida and dyes at Koh-i-Sultan was claimed in a 1909 report.
  The sulfur deposits, south of Koh-i-Sultan's crater, are named Batar, Miri, Nawar and Zond and are within a 18-square-kilometre (7 sq mi) area. In the deposits, the sulfur is in the form of lenses within the volcanic rock. The Koh-i-Sultan deposits are the principal native source of sulfur in Pakistan. They were probably formed by the interaction of sulfuric acid and hydrogen sulfide or from sulfur-containing hot springs when the volcano was still active. Another theory suggests that they formed during the Holocene. Other mineral deposits found at Koh-i-Sultan are copper-containing alterations with alunite and quartz; alunogen, which can be used to obtain aluminium; limonite, used as a yellow dye, and a red ochre rock containing gypsum and anthophyllite. Copper deposits which also contain gold are part of an epithermal-sulfidic mineralization.
caption: Sulfur, a common mineral associated with volcanic activity, is the most important mineral found at Koh-i-Sultan
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