2015 Minerals Yearbook THAILAND [ADVANCE RELEASE] U.S. Department of the Interior November 2018 U.S. Geological Survey The Mineral Industry of Thailand By Spencer D. Buteyn In 2015, Thailand’s real growth rate of the gross domestic assistance to the metallurgical, mineral-processing, and mining product (GDP) increased by 2.8% compared with a growth industries. The Department of Mineral Fuels, which is under rate of 0.8% in 2014. Thailand remained under martial law for the MOE, oversees Thailand’s petroleum industry and promotes the first quarter of 2015 following the May 22, 2014, military the development of the country’s domestic petroleum supply. takeover of the Government that was launched by the Royal The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), which is under Thai Armed Forces. In April, the military junta announced a the MONRE, drafts national mineral policies and provides repeal of martial law; however, the junta remained in power technical assistance for geologic prospecting and mineral through 2015. The Bank of Thailand reported Thailand’s exploration. The DMR conducts geologic mapping, manages unemployment rate in 2015 as 0.9% of the total workforce, mineral resources, performs mineral analyses, and administers which was up from 0.8% in 2014. Economic recovery remained the country’s mineral resources information center (Department slow following the political uncertainty of 2014 and 2015 of Primary Industries and Mines, 2014; Department of Energy, and the low prices of exports, which resulted in low levels of 2016; Wood, 2016). manufacturing (Lefevre, 2015; Bank of Thailand, 2016a, p. 27, 31; 2016d, p. 3). Production In 2015, Thailand was one of the world’s leading producers of In 2015, Thailand’s production of most metals decreased, feldspar (7% of world production), and gypsum (5%). Thailand including major decreases in the production of iron ore, by 95%; produced such metals as copper, gold, iron ore, manganese, tungsten content in concentrate, 70%; tin content in concentrate, silver, tin, tungsten, and zinc. Thailand also produced a variety 54%; manganese ore (Mn content), 38%; mine output of silver of industrial minerals, such as barite, clays, and salt (table 1; (Ag content), 32%; mine output of gold (Au content), 28%; and Crangle, 2017; Tanner, 2017). zinc ore (Zn content), 26%. In the industrial minerals sector, Minerals in the National Economy production increases included that for granite, by 73%; marble, 60%; calcite, 29%; barite, 26%; fluorspar, 25%; and shale, 16%. In 2015, about 79,230 people, or 0.21% of the total labor Industrial minerals for which production decreased included force, were employed in the mining and quarrying industry, travertine stone, 74%; perlite, 68%; ball clay, 34%; and talc, which was a 15% increase from that of 2014. The total foreign 18%. Natural gas production decreased by about 16%, whereas direct investment (FDI) in Thailand increased by 79% compared production of crude petroleum increased by 10% (table 1). with that of 2014, reaching a value of $8.9 billion; however, the level of FDI was still well below the values for 2013 and 2012. Structure of the Mineral Industry FDI in mining and quarrying increased by 167% compared with Table 2 is a list of major mineral industry facilities in that of 2014 and accounted for 5.6% of the total FDI in 2015. Thailand. Most of the nonfuel mineral mining and mineral- FDI in manufacturing decreased by 33% but continued to make processing companies in Thailand were privately owned and up the largest share of FDI, accounting for 36% in 2015; in operated. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand 2014, manufacturing had accounted for 95% of the total FDI, (EGAT) and several coal mining companies owned and operated whereas mining and quarrying accounted for only 3.4% (Bank most of the county’s major coal exploration and mining of Thailand, 2016b). businesses. The PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Government Policies and Programs Ltd. (PTTEP), which was a subsidiary of state-owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), and its joint ventures, and major In April, the Government released the Thailand Mining Fiscal multinational oil companies owned most of the country’s Regime H2 2015 report. The report outlines the governing petroleum and natural gas exploration projects and extraction bodies, laws, licenses, rights obligations, and tax-related businesses (table 2). information for coal, copper, gold, iron ore, and silver. Thailand’s mining industry is governed by the Ministry of Mineral Trade Energy (MOE), Ministry of Industry (MOI), and the Ministry In 2015, Thailand’s exports decreased in value to about of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). The $214 billion from $228 billion in 2014, or by 5.6%. The value Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM), which is of imports decreased to nearly $203 billion in 2015 from under the MOI, oversees, supervises, promotes, and supports $228 billion in 2014, or by 11%. Exported petroleum mining and metallurgical activities to fulfill the demand for products were valued at $8.2 billion and accounted for 3.8% sustainable use of Thailand’s mineral resources while providing of Thailand’s total exports. Metal exports, which included for public safety and protecting the environment in compliance aluminum, copper, iron, and steel, were valued at $9.2 billion with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development and represented 4.3% of Thailand’s total exports in 2015. Act as amended in 2014. The DPIM also provides technical Exports of nonmonetary gold were valued at $3.9 billion, which THAILAND—2015 [ADVANCE RELEASE] 29.1 represented about 1.8% of total exports. Thailand’s main export 36 Mt of cement. TPI Polene Public Co. Ltd. continued with partners in 2015 were the United States (accounted for 11% of construction of a fourth cement production line at its plant Thailand’s total export value), China (11%), Japan (9%), and in Kaeng Koei, Saraburi, which would bring the company’s Hong Kong (6%) (Bank of Thailand, 2016e, f). total annual cement capacity up to 13.5 Mt; construction was Thailand’s imported fuels (coal, coke, crude petroleum, expected to be completed in early 2016 (Thailand Cement natural gas, and petroleum refinery products) in 2015 were Manufacturers Association, 2016, p. 7; TPI Polene Public Co. valued at $29.7 billion, which was down from $47.5 billion Ltd., 2016, p. 186). in 2014. Fuels accounted for 15% of Thailand’s total imports in 2015. Imported base-metal materials were valued Mineral Fuels at $16.4 billion, or 8.1% of total imports, and imported nonmonetary gold was valued at $7.2 billion, or 3.6% of Coal, Natural Gas, and Petroleum.—In 2015, as its primary total imports. This was a 16% decrease in the import value of energy source, Thailand consumed about 2.6 million barrels per base-metal materials compared with that of 2014, and a 9.4% day (Mbbl/d) of oil equivalent, which was an increase of 1.8% increase in the import value of nonmonetary gold. Thailand’s from that of 2014. In 2015, Thailand’s domestically produced main import partners in 2015 were China (accounted for primary energy totaled 1.5 Mbbl/d of oil equivalent, and its 20% of Thailand’s total imports, by value), Japan (15%), the primary energy imports totaled 1.3 Mbbl/d. In 2015, about United States (6.8%), Malaysia (5.9%), and the United Arab 135 million cubic meters per day of natural gas was consumed Emirates (4%) (Bank of Thailand, 2016c, f). in Thailand, which was an increase of about 2% compared with that of 2014. About 60% of the natural gas consumed went Commodity Review towards the production of electricity. Thailand consumed Metals 15.1 Mt of lignite in 2015, which was down by 17.8% compared with that of 2014. The decrease in lignite consumption was Gold and Silver.—Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. of Australia owing to a decrease in electricity generation at the Mae Moh owned and operated the only gold mine in the country—the and the Hongsa powerplants, which are located in Lampang and Chatree gold mine in central Thailand—through its subsidiary Sainyabuli Provinces, respectively (Ministry of Energy, 2016a, b). Akara Resources Public Company Ltd. In fiscal year 2015 In 2015, Alstom S.A. of France and Marubeni Corp. of Japan (July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015), the company produced about signed an agreement with the Electricity Generating Authority 3,890 kilograms (kg) of gold and 26,400 kg of silver at Chatree. of Thailand to build a new unit at the Mae Moh powerplant to As of June 2015, the company measured the proven and replace units 4 through 7. Construction of the unit was expected probable reserves at Chatree as 43.5 million metric tons (Mt) of to be completed in 2018 and to have a capacity of 600 megawatts ore at an average grade of 0.80 gram per metric ton (g/t) gold (Alstom S.A., 2016). and 8.6 g/t silver. On January 13, the Department of Primary Outlook Industry and Mining issued a temporary suspension notice to Chatree owing to reports of elevated levels of arsenic and Political uncertainty continued to have an effect on overall manganese affecting local inhabitants. Operations at the mine growth in Thailand’s economy, investment, and trade sectors were suspended for a total of 44 days in 2015, and the company in 2015. Although Thailand’s GDP did expand by 2.8% in stated that the shutdown deferred the production of 470 kg of 2015, the value of Thailand’s exports decreased by 5.6%. gold (Cochrane, 2016; Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd., 2016, Thailand’s economic recovery will be greatly dependent on the p.