Mines And Mineral Occurrences Of Afghanistan

Afghanistan Investment and Business Guide Volume 1 Strategic and Practical Information

The United States depends on foreign sources for many strategic and essential minerals. Secure supplies of such minerals are crucial to the nation's economic and military well-being, but federal policies with regard to these minerals have continued to vacillate. This volume considers the minerals availability issue from a number of perspectives. In

Afghanistan is well endowed with mineral resources. In addition to significant oil and gas reserves in the north (not discussed in this report) and a few mega-resources (Aynak copper and Hajigak iron, also not covered), there are numerous medium-sized and smaller deposits of minerals such as precious gemstones (notably emeralds and rubies), gold, silver, coal, chromite, marble, granite, talc, and nephrite. Afghanistan is uniquely endowed with reserves of lapis lazuli, a semiprecious colored stone considered the country's signature mineral. Artisanal exploitation of small, scattered mineral resources typically has occurred on an informal basis. Artisanal extraction is not a focus of this report. Though the mega-resources remain untapped, mineral extraction from medium-sized and smaller mines has burgeoned in recent years and is occurring at what can appropriately be called an industrial scale. Unfortunately, it is generating only negligible taxes and royalties for the Afghan government, largely negating any benefits for national development. Moreover, such resource exploitation benefits and strengthens the power of warlords, corrupts the government and undermines governance, partly funds the Taliban and reportedly ISIS as well, and fuels both local conflicts and the wider insurgency.

Afghanistan Mineral & Mining Sector Investment and Business Guide - Strategic and Practical Information