Afghanistan Mining News

[RanadahRanadah]

Yes, no raw material sales at any costs!

[Shayesta]

Instead of it being snatched by the current or next aggressor, it's better to just sell it do something with the little money they get! But the question is, will it actually benefit our residents, or just the warlords? Again?

[graveyardofempires]

Instead of it being snatched by the current or next aggressor, it's better to just sell it do something with the little money they get! But the question is, will it actually benefit our residents, or just the warlords? Again?

no it wouldnt cuz they are the ones banded up with the foreign economic invaders.

[RanadahRanadah]

Instead of it being snatched by the current or next aggressor, it's better to just sell it do something with the little money they get! But the question is, will it actually benefit our residents, or just the warlords? Again?

At this time no sales of mines, those in power must get a loans to run they are government! no sales or raw materials at any costs !

Can we start an email compagain to stop these people to sale the mines!!!

[RanadahRanadah]

no it wouldnt cuz they are the ones banded up with the foreign economic invaders.

No. sales should be allowed all mines are public asset not government asset they should give a share of it to all Afghans government must get a share to but only through the public servants means the government share shall the share of those that work in public services at all level of the government their share of the mines profits and revenue should be lesser than the public shares.

[abassinafghan]

those people are planning to replace the current occupation by mercenaries paid by the revenues of the mines , peace is not needed . just a sufficent security .

the installed goverment are so shameless in their efforts to sale off , that they are so stupid , if they would have only the courage to put the money in their own pockets they are selling billions for millions , and millions for thousands.

best solution would be ,a state runned fond ,with shares of foreign investors ,by no more than 25 % .

prices are rising , and even if no company would agree , there would be something for future generations . its better to have a cake than just a piece of cake .

[RanadahRanadah]

Thank you bright idea, i think we must preserve the assets of the public no sales must be allowed only sales based on share of all people of Afghanistan must be ensured government is the administrator not owner of the assets the assets belong to the people and they must benefit from it. We must first start small scale industry based on the investment capacity of the Afghan investers nationally on share basis too means in all mines the share of public must be there if it is one Afghani that is fine too they must get the one Afghani. Then once we have the capacity to bring in foreign investment for production in Afghanistan and sale of finished products to buyers than only we need to allow them to invest otherwise no we lots buyers and we have lots leverage no need to rush is only wrong and it is equal to stealing from Afghanistan it is worth crime that can ever be foregiven !

[RanadahRanadah]

Dear All,

please share this with all in forum or anywhere else in the internet!

[RanadahRanadah]

Dear All,

I hope you are all well and safe!

Please let us spread the words! They must stop selling the people as raw materials!

[RanadahRanadah]

There are 1,032 views of this message but there are 38 replies we need be active and remove the indifference to issues that will affects afghans for their life! wake up and stand up and take action !

[RanadahRanadah]

There are 1,038 views of this message but there are 38 replies we need be active and remove the indifference to issues that will affects afghans for their life! wake up and stand up and take action !

[RanadahRanadah]

There are 1,038 views of this message but there are 38 replies we need be active and remove the indifference to issues that will affects afghans for their life! wake up and stand up and take action !

[RanadahRanadah]

All trues friends of Afghans/Pashtons! should make efforst to protect their assets! come forward in the forum and voice your concerns on sale of their assets in wrong manners and ways!

[Maulik]

Afghanistan’s Hajigak Iron Ore Deposit Draws Bids From India, Iran, Canada

Afghanistan’s richest iron-ore deposit drew bids from an Indian government-backed group, two Iranian contenders and Canada’s Kilo Goldmines Ltd. (KGL), an Afghan official said.
Afghanistan’s mines ministry opened the bids yesterday for the estimated 1.8 billion metric tons of ore at Hajigak, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Kabul, said Abdul Jalil Jumriany, a ministry director-general. The tender is the biggest on offer in a country that the U.S. government estimated last year holds $1 trillion in untapped minerals.

Seven Indian steel and mining companies, led by state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) and NMDC Ltd. (NMDC), offered a bid that is part of an effort by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government for a bigger role in a nearby country whose stability it calls essential.

In neighboring Pakistan, the politically powerful army “would have concerns about India having such a new role” in Afghanistan, said Bashir Ahmed, a senior fellow and retired army brigadier at the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad.

“Many in the Pakistani establishment are quite sensitive to India’s presence in Afghanistan,” seeing it as a security threat, he said.

The Indian group includes state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd., and private-sector companies JSW Steel Ltd. (JSTL), Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP), Monnet Ispat Ltd. and JSW Ispat Steel Ltd. A separate Indian contender is Corporate Ispat Alloys Ltd., said Jumriany in a text message listing the bidders.

Iranian Interest
Two Iranian bidders are Gol-e-Gohar Iron Ore Co., one of Iran’s biggest iron ore producers, and Behin Sanate Diba Co., a privately run group of 10 investment, mining and industrial companies, some of which are partly state-owned, said Leyla Rashno, the group’s director for tenders.
Rashno declined in a phone interview in Tehran to say whether the group’s bid has been encouraged or backed by Iran’s government.

Toronto-based Kilo Goldmines, which trades on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange, focuses mainly on gold mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The other bidder for Hajigak is Acatco LLC, whose owner, Afghan-American businessman Nasir Shansab, lives near Washington and said in a phone interview his partnership, which employs 30 people, would bring in unnamed additional partners to develop the mine.
Indian Strategy

Indian authorities decided to facilitate their country’s group because “it makes business and strategic sense to have a presence in mining in Afghanistan,” Indian Mines Secretary S. Vijay Kumar said in January. Hajigak also may offer India an investment foothold in Afghanistan to rival that of state-owned Metallurgical Corp. of China Ltd., which is developing the country’s biggest copper deposit, at Aynak.

India and Afghanistan accused Pakistan’s army of secretly backing the July 2008 Taliban bomb attack on India’s embassy in Kabul, one of at least three deadly attacks on Indians in the city since that time. Pakistan denied the accusation.
Stalled Parliament

The mines ministry will this month recommend one bid to receive the license, plus one alternate, or reserve, bid, for each of four blocks at Hajigak, a ministry statement said. Ministry spokesman Jawad Omar said the awards will require approval by the cabinet and by Afghanistan’s parliament, where sessions have been stalled by a dispute over which candidates should be seated following disputed elections a year ago.

Hajigak is a range of treeless mountain ridges with a thin population of villagers who graze animals and farm the valleys below. The costs of developing mines will be increased by the need to build paved roads or rail lines to connect the site to potential markets.

While the ultimate cost of mining Hajigak is unclear, Indian companies “should have every reason to go for the Hajigak mines” if the cost of acquisition is about $1 to $1.5 per ton, said Ravindra Deshpande, an analyst with Mumbai-based Elara Securities Ltd.

While the bidders do not include the world’s biggest mining groups, which President Hamid Karzai’s government had hoped to attract, the six contenders represent progress in attracting investors’ interest. Afghanistan canceled a previous tender last year when only one of seven initial competitors showed up to visit the Hajigak site.

Corruption Issue
The U.S. Defense Department has backed efforts to draw in international investors that it says are essential to stabilizing Afghanistan. Still, the decade-old war and corruption remain obstacles. Afghanistan last year tied with Myanmar for the second-worst ranking among 178 countries in Transparency International’s perceived corruption index.

Karzai’s government has pledged to manage and publish its mining contracts under the provisions of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, or EITI, a voluntary anti- corruption regime, Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani has said.

EITI, based in Oslo, Norway, advocates rules for improving the transparency of contracts and payments in mining and oil and gas extraction. The group rates 11 countries, including Nigeria, Norway, Liberia and Azerbaijan, as fully compliant, while 23 states, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Indonesia, are pursuing the two-year process to achieve that status.

Afghanistan

[Haris]

New Mines Report May
Boost Investment in Afghanistan



US and Afghan experts have compiled a new report detailing Afghanistan's
mineral wealth.

The US Geological Survey and its Afghan counterpart reanalysed old data - some of it
collected during Soviet times - with more modern tools that were not available when
the data was gathered. The team also collected new data from high-tech sensors on
satellites and aircraft.

It is hoped the data will provide mining companies with the knowledge they need to
make significant investments in Afghanistan, helping turn its mineral potential into
wealth for the country.

The report shows that rich sources of copper, gold and lithium lie in Helmand, Ghazni,
Herat, Logar, Badakhshan, Sar-e Pul, Nimroz and Farah provinces.

USGS project chief Steve Peters said better information cut the risk for investors and
increased the likelihood that projects will get started.

"We think we have summarized what the potential is and we have provided enough
data for private industry and the Ministry of Mines to move forward," Peters said.



New Mines Report May Boost Investment in Afghanistan