Volume 5 of the Atlas of Mineral Resources of the ESCAP region represents an updated inventory of geology and mineral resources found so far in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this volume and the accompanying maps is to show the distribution of mineral deposits in Sri Lanka and to provide information on their contained commodities, geographic location, their relation to geologic environment, tectonic and magmatic control of mineralization, chemical and mineralogical composition, genesis of deposits and other characteristics. The publication consists of the explanatory brochure and three atlas sheets, which incorporate the Geological map, the Metamorphic map and the Map of Mineral Resources of Sri Lanka at a scale of approximately 1:1,000,000.

The explanatory brochure contains a short description of geology and tectonics, up-to-date information on the metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits and the current status of their development.

The publication is based mainly on Economic Bulletin No. 2 “Mineral Resources of Sri Lanka” written by J.W. Herath, the then Director of the Geological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, and published by the Geological Survey Department of the Ministry of Industries and Scientific Affairs in 1980. The April 1984 issue of Economic Review, devoted to the status of mineral resources development in Sri Lanka, was another source heavily used in the preparation of the explanatory brochure.

The maps were adopted from the geological, metamorphic and mineral resources maps of Sri Lanka, original scale 1:506,880, issued by the Geological Survey Department in 1982-1983.