Record Monthly Output at Maddhapara Stone Mine: More Than 150,000 Tonnes Extracted in October
The Germania-Trest Consortium (GTC), which operates the Maddhapara hard rock mine in Parbatipur, Dinajpur — the country's only underground productive stone mine — has set a new record in stone extraction. In October, the company extracted more than 150,000 metric tonnes of stone, surpassing all previous monthly records.
Since the second-phase contract with GTC, stone extraction has progressed steadily. In October, excluding holidays, more than 150,000 metric tonnes of stone were extracted, with daily average production of around 6,000 metric tonnes.
Mine-related officials say production is being carried out under the supervision of GTC's foreign mining experts, using modern technology and planned management. They believe this continuity of production will increase the local supply of stone for the country's infrastructure development and reduce import dependence. Mine sources say the successive records are saving the government a large amount of foreign currency. At present, around 1,530,000 metric tonnes of stone of various sizes are stocked in several of the mine's yards.
The Maddhapara hard rock mine was discovered in 1973-74. On October 20, 1994, the then prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia formally inaugurated the Maddhapara hard rock project. Commercial stone extraction from the mine began on May 25, 2007. At the start, only 400 to 500 metric tonnes of stone were extracted daily, but production has now increased significantly under GTC's management.
Engineer DM Jobayed Hossain, managing director of Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited, said the price of the mine's stone has been reduced in alignment with imported stone, a new milestone has been created in stone production through GTC, and stone sales at the mine have also increased. Mine workers and others involved hope that with support from the government and all concerned to sustain this pace of development and production, the Maddhapara stone mine under GTC will be established as a model in the country's economic development.
