Pakistan, Oct. 23 -- A government audit report has identified financial irregularities amounting to over Rs 16.94 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's minerals sector in a single year, raising concerns over revenue collection, illegal mining and the recovery of government dues. According to the report, the losses involved illegal mining, non-recovery of outstanding payments from contractors, unlawful extraction of construction materials and failure to collect various duties and royalties. The report estimated that illegal mining caused losses exceeding Rs8 billion during 2022 and 2023. It also pointed out that authorities failed to recover Rs4.31 billion in outstanding dues from defaulting contractors. Despite the presence of check posts, insp...