Mining of Graphite in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The first mention of the presence of graphite in Sri Lanka dates back to 1675. The industry grew mainly during the 19th century and it peaked in ! 899 with a production of 31,761 mt coming from about 3,000 pits. The graphite of Sri Lanka commanded, at that time, a high premium due to its exceptional quality. However, in 1912, shallow deposits which matched in quality those of Sri Lanka, were discovered in Malagasy. This resulted in stiff competition, the Malagasy graphite being extracted at a lower cost. The Sri Lanka production declined slowly but inexorably, with some outbursts of revival during World Wars I and XI. The share of Sri Lanka, which was half the world trade in graphite prior to 1912. had fallen to less than 2 per cent in 1980. The main reason of this decline, apart from the foreign competition, is probably that the graphite occurrences of Sri Lanka are in thin veins of small extension scattered over a large area. This structure was favourable to manual methods of mining by cheap labour, as long as mechanization was not very developed world wide. However, as the pits had a very small production and as their owners did not have the means to invest in a minimum of mechanization when the time came to be so. their exploitations became unprofitable. Furthermore, the labourers were attracted by the tea plantations where the work was less painful. Only the mines of the Bogala, Kahatagaha and Kolongaha complexes resisted this trend because they had a concentrated higher production and their sales allowed them to invest in shaft sinking and equipment purchasing.