Emeralds
Emeralds are one of the foremost semi-precious stones mined in Afghanistan. Although historic accounts of emeralds originating from the Panjshir Valley exist, more recently, emeralds are known to have been produced in the Khenj, Mikeni, Yaknow (Butak), Buzmal (Dahane Revat), Rivat, and Darun mining districts since the 1970s (Bowersox 2015; Bowersox et al. 1991; DeWitt et al. 2020). Estimates of gemstone grade in the Panjshir Valley, made by Soviet and Afghan geologists in the 1960s and 1970s, range from 0.6 carat/m3 to 6.5 carat/m3 (DeWitt et al. 2020). Production in the late 1990s was worth an estimated USD 10 million; the largest cut stone at the time reportedly weighed approximately 15 carats (Bowersox 2015; Groat et al. 2008). A 2009 survey of the Panjshir Valley’s deposits and mines found that approximately 1,400 miners worked at 172 mines, producing gemstones ranging from 4 to >100 carats (Bowersox 2015). More recent estimates indicate that approximately 67,500-86,000 carats of emeralds were produced at just two of the Panjshir Valley mine sites over four years (DeWitt et al. 2020).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Rubies
Rubies are primarily mined in the Jegdalek deposit, a 4-km-long belt located 100 km to the east of Kabul (Byrd and Noorani 2017). Rubies range from a light purple to a deep red, and the best stones are similar in quality to those found in Myanmar. While estimates of potential production from the Jegdalek deposit are as high as several million USD per year, the ASM methods used to extract the gemstones are generally primitive. The marble layers that host the rubies are broken apart with hammers, prybars, and in some cases, pneumatic drills and dynamite. In recent decades, the mining area has been controlled by various non-state actors, affecting production. Estimates of the ASM workforce at Jegdalek are outdated: while approximately 400 men were reported to have worked at the mines in the late 1990s (Bowersox et al. 2000), no recent estimates are available.
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Lapis lazuli
Artisanal mining of lapis lazuli has occurred for millennia (e.g., The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2021). However, between at least the 1930s and 1970s, mining of this semi-precious stone was under strict government control (Byrd and Noorani 2017). Deposits of lapis lazuli are located primarily in the Kowcha Valley (Bowersox et al. 2007) of the Kuran wa Munjan district in Badakhshan, though other occurrences have been recorded near Jorm, Badakhshan, and off the Sanglich River in an area referred to alternatively as Chilak, Lagharaan, Shoka, or Strambi Valley (Doebrich and Wahl 2006). These locations are remote and poorly accessible. Miners traverse the steep mountainsides via donkey and live onsite, away from their families for long periods of time (Bowersox et al. 2007).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Pegmatites & other gemstones & semi-precious stones
Other gemstones and semi-precious stones are hosted primarily in pegmatite deposits located in Mawi, Suraj, Nilaw, and Korgal in Nuristan province. These high-quality commodities include tourmaline, kunzite, aquamarine, spodumene, and morganite (Bowersox et al. 2007). Other deposits and occurrences of pegmatites are located in Badakhshan, Kunar, Laghman, Kapisa, and Panjshir provinces (Doebrich and Wahl 2006). Very little information exists about the artisanal mining of these semi-precious stones and pegmatites. In most areas, it is assumed that the mining is similar to the traditional blasting and tunneling methods seen in Panjshir Valley emerald mining; however, some evidence suggests that small-scale mechanized mining may also occur.
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Gold
Afghanistan has 88 mapped gold deposits or occurrences (Doebrich and Wahl 2006), which occur as skarn, porphyry, and alluvial deposits (Bowersox et al. 2007; Peters et al. 2007; Peters et al. 2011a). In 2017, the UNDP estimated that Afghanistan annually produced 1 kg of gold, worth USD 0.03 million, attributable entirely to ASM operators (United Nations Development Programme 2020). Though four areas of gold ASM were recorded in Takhar province in 2018 (DeWitt et al. 2021), only one (cancelled) license has been registered in the MoMP Transparency Portal for gold exploration (Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MCAS) 2021).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Coal
In addition to exports to Pakistan and other neighboring countries, Afghanistan’s coal resources are used domestically to power brick kilns, for cooking, and for heating (Byrd and Noorani 2017). These resources occur primarily in rocks deep below the surface of north-central Afghanistan, in an area referred to as the North Coal district, but also occur in some western provinces (Byrd and Noorani 2017; SanFilipo 2005). Mining of these relatively deep layers requires significant infrastructure and technological capabilities that have limited the scale of production to date. Current coal production in Afghanistan is estimated to be similar to the pre-war peak reported in 1978, of about 2.2 million metric tonnes/year (United Nations Development Programme 2020). In 1978, coal was produced entirely by government-owned mines; however, by 2008, small, private, ‘artisanal’ mines produced the majority of coal resources. In the smallest of these mines, coal is manually extracted from hand-dug adits, sometimes referred to as ‘dog holes’, the tunnels of which lack roof support and proper ventilation. Miners operate in difficult conditions using shovels, pickaxes, chemicals, and dynamite (Mining Technology 2014). These primitive mining methods are simultaneously hazardous and cause widespread damaging oxidation of adjacent unmined coal resources (Hare et al. 2008; SanFilipo 2005).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Talc
Talc is a soft, inert mineral that has a variety of important industrial uses, with applications in paint and varnish, paper making, roofing materials, cosmetics, rubber, insecticides, and ceramics (Cocker 2011). Nine talc deposits and occurrences have been mapped in several provinces in eastern Afghanistan, including Baghlan, Parwan, Kabul, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Kunar, and Nangarhar (Doebrich and Wahl 2006), but relatively little is known about these occurrences. The majority of Afghanistan’s talc production comes from the deposits in Nangarhar province (United Nations Development Programme 2020), where extensive mechanized ASM has been mapped in the districts of Achin, Dih Bala, Khogyani, Pachir Wa Agam, and Sherzad (DeWitt et al. 2021; Global Witness 2018). While artisanal mining of the Achin deposit has reportedly taken place since the 1920s (Global Witness 2018), mining of the Sherzad deposit began more recently between 2005 and 2006 (ALCIS 2021). In both regions, early excavation methods were entirely manual and labor intensive (ALCIS 2021; Global Witness 2018).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Chromite
Chromite ore is mined to produce the element chromium, which has a variety of metallurgical, chemical, and industrial uses, including in the manufacturing of stainless steel (Mishra and Sahu 2013). Of the 17 chromite deposits or occurrences that have been mapped in Afghanistan, 12 occur in Logar province; the others occur across Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, and Parwan provinces (Doebrich and Wahl 2006). Chromite mining has also been reported in Maidan Wardak, Logar, and Kunar provinces (Byrd and Noorani 2017). In many areas, surface deposits are manually worked using pickaxes and shovels; however, in some areas, mechanized ASM using bulldozers and excavators is the norm.
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Marble, Abra stone, Onyx, & Travertine
Afghanistan’s significant marble resources are estimated at roughly 1.3 billion metric tonnes, with potentially 400 varieties of marble valued at USD 150-200 billion (Ministry of Industry and Commerce 2018; Rassin 2012). Afghan onyx is considered one of the country’s highest quality dimension stone exports, though there is some debate as to whether it is, in fact, onyx (where mineralogically, onyx is generally defined as a banded variety of chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline silica) (Mitchell and Benham 2008). There are also substantial granite resources throughout the country. Mining of marble resources increased exponentially between 2008 and 2011, with an estimated 4,000-5,000 people directly employed by several companies in the industry (Mitchell and Benham 2008). In 2018, marble production was estimated at 130,000 m2/month by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoCI). Of the 130 companies counted by the report, approximately 90 were classified as “Category C” companies, indicating that they were small or startup companies (Ministry of Industry and Commerce 2018, 21).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Clay
Clay resources are used widely in ceramic products, in construction materials such as bricks and adobe walls, and in industrial applications such as the lining of kilns (Mossotti 2014). Although only 12 deposits or occurrences of clay have been mapped (Peters et al. 2007), clay – or a combination of silt and clay – is mined throughout Afghanistan for use in brick making. In most instances, the clay is mined and processed in close proximity to a kiln, where it is hardened into bricks or tiles for construction purposes. While the quarrying of clay and loess surface materials is sometimes done by mechanical excavators or bulldozers, the process of wetting the material, shaping it into bricks, stacking the wet bricks to sun dry, and transporting them to a kiln is entirely manual. In the Kabul region in 2019, an estimated 27,500 laborers worked at 625 kilns, producing 1.579 billion bricks per year (DeWitt et al. 2021). Similarly, ASM of clay resources has been observed near urban areas in other parts of the country, including Kandahar, Balkh, and Badakhshan (DeWitt et al. 2019).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
Other Industrial Minerals
Other industrial and construction mineral resources that are mined artisanally include sand, gravel, construction stone, limestone, fluoride, and gypsum. Sand and gravel are typically the materials in greatest demand (Mossotti 2014), followed closely by construction stone. While only 15 small deposits of sand and gravel have been mapped in Badakshan and Ghazni (Peters et al. 2007), mining of these industrial minerals occurs near ubiquitously in the vicinity of the urban space or project site from which demand originates (Mossotti 2014). Areas of sand and gravel ASM have been mapped in Badakhshan, Kabul, Kandahar, Balkh, and Takhar (DeWitt et al. 2019).
Read more in the Afghanistan Country Profile.
