What is "eppawala"

Eppawala, is a settlement and Grama Niladhari administrative division in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. It forms part of the Thalawa Divisional Secretariat within the Anuradhapura District. It is situated around south of the ancient city of Anuradhapura and north east of Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

Eppawala and its surroundings are located within a geological region of high-grade phosphate deposits – Sri Lanka's only phosphate deposits. Mined since the 1970s by government-owned Lanka Phosphate, the deposits attracted media attention and spawned national protests in the late 1990s when overseas corporations expressed interest in initiating intensive mining operations.