Bhutan has extracted more coal and talc than its recorded reserves. Now, quartzite could be next. According to the National Statistics Bureau’s Environmental Accounts Statistics 2025, the country’s recorded quartzite reserves are declining, raising questions about how quickly Bhutan is using up its mineral resources and how much longer they could last.
According to the National Statistics Bureau’s latest environmental accounts there is no recorded coal and talc reserves in the country.
The report says extraction of both minerals has exceeded their known reserves since 2018.
However, this does not necessarily mean all coal and talc deposits have been exhausted. The report classifies both under possible mineral reserves, making it difficult to estimate exactly how much may remain underground.
Now the figures point to quartzite. At the end of last year, Bhutan’s known quartzite reserves stood at 2.9 M metric tonnes. About 260 thousand tonnes were extracted last year. Based on those numbers, and if extraction continues at the same rate, the reserves would last about eleven years.
At the start of 2015, the stock stood at 4.7 M tonnes. Since then, about 1.8 million metric tonnes have been extracted. That is a fall of almost 40 per cent. The report records no new discoveries to replace it.
And extraction is accelerating. In 2015, about 80 thousand metric tonnes of quartzite were taken out. By 2025, that figure had risen to approximately 260 thousand tonnes, more than three times the amount extracted a decade ago.
But these figures do not necessarily account for every mineral deposit underground.
The report explains that the recorded stock changes with extraction, new discoveries and reassessments. It also notes that outstanding reserves may include unknown resources. This means the figures track known mineral stocks, rather than providing a definitive estimate of every deposit that may exist.
According to the report, quartzite is being actively monitored and tracked.
The report also estimates the net present value of quartzite at Nu 518.41 M.
This is an estimate of the mineral’s economic value under the report’s assumptions. It is not the amount of revenue the government has collected or the mining industry has earned.
Quartzite is an important raw material for industries such as ferrosilicon production. As recorded reserves decline, the key question is whether Bhutan has enough information to plan for future industrial demand and manage the resource sustainably.
Tashi Dekar
