Afghanistan has been famous for centuries with internal wealth through which it can get rid of poverty and progress between countries economically, but the country has been facing for 4 decades of great security and political challenges in exploration and mining industries.
Al -Jazeera, through a special investigation prepared by journalist Omar Halabi, continued a path of those who have been eliminated for these wealth, and the reality of the country today in light of an international rivalry of rare minerals.
The province of Ghazni is one of the poorest Afghan states, despite the enormous wealth in its mountains and lands, and the situation applies to other states such as Helmand, Hairat, Nimrose, Lughr, Bedakhshan, Norstan, Najashir, Baghlan and Konar.
Conflicts and wars deprived the people of these areas, which their lands are stored in their lands, at a time when the people see their burial wealth as far -reaching hopes.
In the 19th century, the British army made efforts to assess the mineral resources in the region, while the Soviet Union – during the 1970s – conducted widespread surveys of mineral resources in the country.
The Americans found a group of Soviet records in the Afghan Geological Survey in the capital, Kabul, to start the American Geological Survey and its Afghan counterpart in 2006 the most comprehensive geological survey of the country.
David Hadaf, an Afghan geologist and deputy head of the mines in Ghazni, says that the state is rich in mines, especially gold and lehum, revealing that the studies began by the Russians and followed by American experts, and stressed the need to conduct in -depth studies and provide funds and technicians.
David pointed out that the past government was not full -time for mines, but for the war, stressing that the establishment of security now put an end to the actions that harmed the mines after it was subject to looting.
Buried minerals
American and Afghan data indicate an amazing diversity of buried minerals and rare soil elements in Afghanistan, whether in terms of the number of mines or what it contains.
Lithium stocks in the south of the country may be the second largest reserve in the world, while Afghanistan contains huge amounts of gold, as well as iron, marble, gemstones and a mixture of rare minerals such as uranium.
The importance of copper is no less than gold in Afghanistan, as it is its store in Luger alone, the second largest reserve in the world.
Khalil Ahmedi, a government supervisor engineer on the copper mine in Logger, says that there is a large number of mines in the region, the most important of which is copper, noting that the Soviet experts started the work, but it was stopped because of the Soviet invasion and then its withdrawal.
Ahmedi stressed that if Afghanistan takes advantage of the mines, it will not only achieve self -sufficiency, but will change the face of the country, noting that “our mines have a great value in the global market as it has not yet been used.”
China’s presence
The presence of China remains the largest in the field of exploration in Afghanistan despite the efforts of the Americans, as a Chinese company in 2007 signed a 30 -year exploration agreement in the Ainak mine, the second largest copper mining in the world.
The work in this mine stopped in 2013 for many reasons, but after the Taliban came to power, excavations were resumed.
According to the adviser to the Afghan Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Abdullah Azzam, the main reason for the suspension of the work of the Chinese in the copper mine is the presence of the antiquities there, stressing that the government has put a comprehensive mechanism to transfer antiquities to a safe place.
The Chinese company has made covenants to start work at the earliest opportunity, while the Afghan government will not allow the procrastination of work in the mine, says Azzam.
Human obstacles
Despite the security of the security, the way of mining industries in Afghanistan is a great obstacle, the first of which is the destruction of infrastructure, the last of which is the isolation of Afghanistan international, as the Taliban has not yet received international recognition.
The Afghan government in China has found a way to obtain support and develop the economy in light of the conditions set by Washington and its European allies to integrate it into the international community.
Beijing appears to be keen to cooperate with a cable, whether to secure its borders or try to control precious metal wealth, but the competition remains with other private foreign companies (American, Western, Eastern and Asian).
Azzam says that the current government is working to repair the infrastructure, “and we received many offers from foreign companies, especially lithium mines,” revealing the signing of mining contracts in 7 major mines.
Out of precious metals, Afghans are currently busy with their wealth of their country, such as coal, as the global demand for it has become wide after the global energy crisis.
