Afghanistan has abundant non-fuel mineral resources, including both known and potential deposits of a wide variety of minerals ranging from copper, iron, and sulfur to bauxite, lithium, and rare-earth elements. It was announced in 2010 that about $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits were identified in Afghanistan, enough to fundamentally alter the
Afghan economy. According to other reports the total mineral riches of Afghanistan may be worth over $3 trillion US dollars. "The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of
iron,
copper,
cobalt,
gold, and critical industrial metals like
lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world".
Ghazni Province may hold the world's largest lithium reserves. The deposits were described in the USGS report on Afghanistan in 2007.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai remarked
"Whereas Saudi Arabia is the oil capital of the world, Afghanistan will be the lithium capital of the world." Afghanistan invited 200 global companies for the development of its mines.
Copper No copper mines were active in the country in 2006. In the past, copper had been mined from
Herat Province and
Farah Province in the west,
Kapisa Province in the east, and
Kandahar Province and
Zabul Province in the south. As of 2006, interest was focused on the
Aynak, the
Darband, and the
Jawkhar prospects in southeastern Afghanistan. Copper mineralization at Aynak in
Logar Province was stratabound and characterized by
bornite and
chalcopyrite disseminated in dolomite marble and quartz-biotite-dolomite schists of the Loy Khwar Formation. Although a resource of 240 million metric tons at a grade of 2.3% copper had been reported, a number of small
ore lenses were potentially not practically and economically minable. Open pit and underground mining would be needed to exploit the main ore body, and other infrastructure problems, such as inadequate power and water, were also likely. The new (2005) Mining Law might favor the development of the deposit by using
public tenders. The Government issued a public tender for the deposit in 2006, and expected the granting of concessions in February 2007. Nine mining companies from Australia,
China, India, and the United States were interested in the prospect. In 2007, a 30-year lease was granted for the development of a copper mine at
Mes Aynak in
Logar Province to the China Metallurgical Group for $3 billion, making it the biggest foreign investment and private business venture in Afghanistan's history. It is believed to contain the second-largest reserves of copper ore in the world and the deposits are estimated to be worth up to $88 billion. It is also the site of one of Afghanistan's most important archaeological sites and, although there are desperate efforts being made to save as much as possible, the main Buddhist monastery and other remains are due to be bulldozed to make way for the mine. Several new mineral-rich sites, with estimated deposits of about $250 billion, had been found in six other provinces. Launched in 2006, a US Geological Survey (USGS), jointly conducted with the Ministry of Mines, was completed last year. The survey covers 30 percent of the country. "The survey provides credible information on mines in 28 different parts of Afghanistan,"
Wahidullah Shahrani told reporters. It showed the world's largest copper deposits existed in Balkhab district of
Sar-e-Pol. The copper mine was discovered near a river, an area which might hold gold reserves as well. The government launched tenders in late 2011 for the Balkhab copper deposit, which had reserves of about 45 Mt of copper. Citing the report, an Afghan government minister said two new copper mines in Logar Province and Herat Province provinces had been discovered. The value of the Logar pit, not the Ainak mine, is estimated at $43 billion. Copper and gold mines worth of $30 billion were discovered in the Zarkasho area of Ghazni and lithium pits of $20 billion in Farah and Nimroz provinces, Shahwani said. A deposit of
beryllium, which is lighter than aluminum and stronger than steel used in airplanes, helicopters, ships, missiles, and space craft, has been found in the Khanashin district of southern
Helmand province. The reserves are estimated at $88 billion.
Coal Afghanistan has rich reserves of coking coal, coal is primarily located within a Jurassic belt from the northern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan through the center of the country and towards the west in Herat, according to Afghan mines ministry. In 2014 however, the
U.S. Department of Labor has issued a
List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in which Afghanistan appeared to be one of the 74 countries with noticeable incidence of child labor in the
coal mining field.
Gemstones from
Nangarhar Province Afghanistan is known to have exploited its
precious and semi-precious gemstone deposits. These deposits include
aquamarine,
emerald and other varieties of beryl,
fluorite,
garnet,
kunzite,
ruby,
sapphire,
lapis lazuli,
topaz,
tourmaline, varieties of
quartz, and
caribbean calcite. Corundum deposits (sapphire and ruby) in the country are largely exhausted, and very little gem quality material is found. The four main gemstone-producing areas are those of Badakhshan, Jegdalek, Nuristan, and the
Panjshir Valley.
Artisanal mining of gemstones in the country used primitive methods. Some
gemstones were exported illicitly, mostly to
India (which was the world's leading import market for colored gemstones and an outlet for higher quality gems) and to the domestic neighboring Pakistan market. The geologic setting is similar to those found in Bolivia and Chile. The deposits are also found in hard rock in the form of
spodumene in
pegmatites in the north-eastern Provinces of Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Nuristan, and Uruzgan. A pegmatite in the Hindu Kush Mountains in central Afghanistan was reported to contain 20% to 30% spodumene.
Marble Afghanistan also has considerable amount of
marble in different parts of the country. There are a number of marble factories in
Herat. According to the
U.S. Embassy in Kabul, current Afghan marble exports are estimated at $15 million per year. With improved extraction, processing, infrastructure, and investment, the industry has the potential to grow into a $450 million per year business.
Petroleum and natural gas Afghanistan has 1.8 billion barrels of
oil between
Balkh and
Jawzjan Province in the north of the country, discovered in 2010. This is an enormous amount for a nation that only consumes 5,000 bbl/day. The United States Geological Survey and the
Afghan Ministry of Mines and Industry jointly assessed the oil and
natural gas resources in northern Afghanistan. The estimated mean volumes of undiscovered petroleum were 1,596 million barrels (Mbbl) of
crude oil, 444 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and 562 Mbbl of natural gas liquids. Most of the undiscovered crude oil occurs in the Afghan-Tajik Basin and most of the undiscovered natural gas is located in the
Amu Darya Basin. These two basins within Afghanistan encompass areas of approximately 515,000 square kilometers. In 2012 it was projected Afghanistan would have its first oil refineries within the next three years, after which it will receive 70 percent of the profits from the sale of the oil and natural gas. CNPC began Afghan oil production in October 2012, extracting 1.5 million barrels of oil annually.
Rare-earth elements According to a September 2011 US Geological Survey estimate, the Khanashin carbonatites in southern
Helmand Province have an estimated 1 million metric tonnes of
rare-earth elements at a potentially useful concentration in the rock, but of unknown economic value. Regina Dubey, acting director for the Department of Defence
Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) stated that "this is just one more piece of evidence that Afghanistan's mineral sector has a bright future."
Salt There are approximately 12
salt mines in the provinces of Balkh, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Herat, Kandahar, Paktia, Parwan, Samangan and Takhar.
Uranium The
Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan is believed to possess
uranium reserves, according to
Afghan Ministry of Mines. ==See also==