Monday March 28, 2016
Kabul (BNA) However, comprehensive researches has not so far been conducted in Afghanistan, but historically it has rich mines.
In the past, the northeastern province of Badakhshan has been reported to have been enriched in azure, gold, copper, and southern province of Kandahar and the capital Kabul are famous with their salt mines. In the beginning of 20th century, gold has been detected in Muqur area, silver in Panshir, and other mines such as forum, coal, oil and gas in different provinces of the country. For the first time, the British geologists could get access to some findings in the country’s north following which, the relatively rapid establishment of research department for oil and gas, the most important phase of geological survey has been detected in 1950s. During the survey, Afghan geologists in cooperation with Russian experts could successfully complete research for detection of oil and natural gas, using the first ever topography method in the country. Between 1961 and 1958 French geologists photomapped the capital’s different areas, and in 1959, the German geologists air-mapped it, helping geological topography of the country’s south successfully provided with 1000000 geological balance.
In 1965, in cooperation with the Russian geologists from France started detection, evaluation and estimation of the country’s coal mines, iron, gold and azure resulting in detection of Hajigak mine in Bamyan region and big area of coal mine in Pul-e-Khumri in the north and Herat in the west. Likewise, wide survey launched for detection of plumb, gold, selphar, phasforate, mineral waters, salt and constructional materials and in 1974, Logar copper mine had been detected, helping the most important geological survey complete across the country. In the 1970s, sporadic mines researches kept continued and followed by the Russian geologists, but the results had not been still access or revealed. Henceforth, mine survey faced harsh blow during the last decades of war in the country and in 2002, with the new phase of survey, efforts are now being done to work seriously and a team is learning how to distinguish and register, photograph and distinguish the materials before taking them to the department of Afghanistan geological survey in Kabul. The US department of geological survey is now providing cooperation and support to the country’s geologists to successfully work on detection of mines. Afghanistan’s mines, if managed well, has rich mines resources and would stay on its feet, if precious minerals helped professionally extracted. The country’s ministry of mines has to properly extract the mines and hydrocarbons and use them in the interest of the people. As per the constitution, under the Afghanistan development strategy, the government should encourage the private sector to step up in the fields of mining and natural to help remove joblessness and overcome poverty in the country.
Lailuma Noori
