"Bakht Mand Khan (Late): The Unsung Visionary Who Dreamed of a Mineral-Driven Pakistan

While the world admires Swat for its emerald valleys, let us remember the man who saw gold in its rocks—and dared to dream of a self-reliant Pakistan.

The Donkey Caravans of Ambition

In the 1950s, long before the winding roads of Swat’s Bahrain-Kalam Valley became a tourist marvel, a young Bakht Mand Khan traversed these rugged trails on donkey back. With nothing but grit and a pickaxe, he ventured into the untamed peaks of Falakser to mine antimony—a mineral critical for alloys and flame retardants. At a time when Swat was still a princely state, and Queen Elizabeth’s visits to the valley made global headlines, Bakht Mand Khan’s quiet revolution was unfolding in the shadows. While others dismissed him as “mad” for his obsession with rocks, he spent nights poring over mineralogy books ordered from England, teaching himself the science that would later define his legacy.

The First Leases: A Legacy Carved in Stone

Bakht Mand Khan’s journey began with Swat’s earliest mining leases. He pioneered the extraction of azurite—a dazzling blue copper mineral—and soapstone from Shangla, renowned globally for its purity and carving potential. These weren’t just business ventures; they were acts of faith in Pakistan’s untapped potential. In 1960, he founded Gulshan Mining Company (named after his father), which evolved into Swat Mining Corporation and later branched into his son’s enterprise, Khyber Minerals Swat. Each iteration reflected his unyielding belief: Minerals are not just rocks—they are a nation’s lifeline.

Voice Echoes at the Pakistan Minerals Summit May 2025

Decades later, at the April 2025 Pakistan Minerals Summit hosted by OGDCL, international delegates and the Prime Minister echoed a familiar refrain: “Harness indigenous minerals to combat economic crises.” The very vision Bakht Mand Khan had championed since the 1950s—now repackaged as a “new strategy”—was met with applause

Lessons from the Father of Minerals

1. Courage Over Comfort: Mining antimony on donkey trails taught us that progress demands sacrifice. No roadblocks—literal or bureaucratic—should deter ambition.

2. Self-Education as Power: Without formal training, Bakht Mand Khan mastered mineralogy through dogged self-study. His library of English books, shipped to a remote Swat valley, became his university.

3. Think Generations Ahead: From Gulshan Mining to Khyber Minerals, he built institutions, not just businesses—a blueprint for intergenerational impact.

4. Speak Truth to Power: Until his last breath, he challenged leaders to prioritize minerals over short-term fixes. “Debt is a choice; minerals are destiny,” he’d say.