Afghanistan seeks bids to tap mineral wealth
Afghanistan is to seek bids from global mining groups to extract the war-torn country’s near $1 trillion of mineral wealth.
Afghanistan is to seek bids from global mining groups to extract the war-torn country’s near $1 trillion of mineral wealth, its mines minister said.
Wahidullah Shahrani said the country would organise a road show to promote opportunities for foreign investors on June 25 in London.
“We will invite bids for the development of our mineral deposits in the next few months,” he said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart B K Handique in New Delhi on Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
A number of Indian companies and global miners have already shown interest in Afghanistan’s deposits, the minister said. A recent study by US geologists found Afghanistan had reserves of valuable minerals on a larger scale than previously believed, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The value of the minerals, which include lithium, iron, gold, niobium, mercury and cobalt, was estimated at about a trillion dollars, the study said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in January that the deposits could help one of the world’s most impoverished nations become one of the richest, based on preliminary findings of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). few of the minerals have been exploited because the country has been mired in conflict for three decades, and is today embroiled in an insurgency by the Taliban.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 17th, 2010.
Wahidullah Shahrani said the country would organise a road show to promote opportunities for foreign investors on June 25 in London.
“We will invite bids for the development of our mineral deposits in the next few months,” he said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart B K Handique in New Delhi on Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
A number of Indian companies and global miners have already shown interest in Afghanistan’s deposits, the minister said. A recent study by US geologists found Afghanistan had reserves of valuable minerals on a larger scale than previously believed, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The value of the minerals, which include lithium, iron, gold, niobium, mercury and cobalt, was estimated at about a trillion dollars, the study said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in January that the deposits could help one of the world’s most impoverished nations become one of the richest, based on preliminary findings of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). few of the minerals have been exploited because the country has been mired in conflict for three decades, and is today embroiled in an insurgency by the Taliban.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 17th, 2010.