Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Sean Carberry, Kabul Correspondent (NPR.org,
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| Bamiyan, Afghanistan, the real Kapilavastu in Himalayan foothills of Hindu Kush (wiki) |
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| Afghan worker excavates ancient Buddhist city at Mes Aynak, Feb. 2013. Afghanistan is believed to be sitting on massive cultural, mineral, and metal deposits, but obstacles prevent large-scale mining (Matthew C. Rains/MCT/Landov). |
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| Emerging treasures of Mes Aynak (B. Huffman) |
For years, reports have suggested that Afghanistan is sitting on
massive deposits of copper, gold, iron and rare earth minerals valued up
to $3 trillion. This provides hope for a future economy that would not
have to rely so heavily on foreign donations.
But with an
uncertain political, regulatory and security environment, international
investors are hesitant. And it could be many years before Afghanistan
begins extracting its mineral wealth.
The Afghan Geological
Survey office in Kabul is one of the few agencies in the country that
measure up to international standards.
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| Journalist walks by mineral exhibit on the way to news conference by Afghan minister of mines, Kabul 2010 (Musadeq Sadeq/AP). |
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| The CIA's "Taliban" damage |
Here, a U.S. government task
force is helping train and advise Afghan geologists in processing
samples from potential mining sites.
On a recent day,
technicians are busy cataloging core samples from North Aynak in Logar
province, about 30 miles south of [the war torn capital of] Kabul. Afghan and U.S. geologists are
evaluating the site's potential as a copper [and rare earth] mine.
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| Fitzgerald (InvisibleHistory.com) |
Long thin cylinders of greenish rock from the site are lined up in cases. After they are cataloged and photographed, they go to the cutting room, says geologist Mohammed Idrees Ahmadi.
"We
cut them, we can see the mineralizations, the structures, and the
textures of minerals or rocks that are in the sample," he explains. More+AUDIO
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