Road accident deaths drop by 50% in Saudi Arabia    SR 3.95 million fines for 3 employees of a company and 6-month jail for one for violating Capital Market Law    Qassim emir launches 52 health projects costing a total of SR456 million    BD and INS partner to elevate standards of infusion care in MENAT    Dubai Design Week launches its 10th edition, celebrating creativity and innovation    GASTAT: Passengers of public transport bus and train soar 176% and 33% respectively in 2023    Fakeeh Care Group reports 9M-2024 net profit of SR195.3 million, up 49% y-o-y driven by solid revenue growth and robust profitability    Italy's 'Libra' to arrive in Albania with just eight migrants on board    South Africa shuts border crossing with Mozambique over poll unrest    French families sue TikTok over harmful content that allegedly led to suicides    Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power    HRT does not impact life expectancy — UK health body    Liam Payne's body to be flown back to the UK    Suspect arrested for banking fraud totaling SR493 million as Nazaha pursues corruption charges    Arab leaders and heads of state congratulate US President-elect Donald Trump    Neymar suffers muscle tear, out for 4-6 weeks    Crown Prince hails Saudi medical team that performed world's first fully robotic heart transplant    Al Nassr secures 5-1 victory over Al Ain to edge closer to knockout stage    Al Ahli extends perfect start with 5-1 victory over Al Shorta    Mitrovic's hat-trick leads Al Hilal to 3-0 victory over Esteghlal    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Afghan mines sparkle but problems abound
By Sue Pleming
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 16 - 06 - 2010

Afghanistan has rich mineral deposits, from iron ore and copper to precious stones, but their potential is stifled by war, bad infrastructure and deep investor caution.
Experts say revenues could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars – a statistic US officials are honing in on given the cost of the nine-year war and Afghanistan's paltry economy – but such a bounty is years, even decades away.
“Rather than being a wasteland, Afghanistan is a mother lode of mineral resources. The challenge is how to extract it and make sure it benefits all Afghans,” said James Bever, director of the task force for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the US Agency for International Development.
“Seven or eight or 10 years from now we may look back and say this was the big thing,” said Bever.
Mining analysts say while Afghanistan's mineral potential is enticing, the risks are too big for most companies who worry their investments will be attacked by the Taliban or affected by the Afghan government's reputation for corruption.
“An established company would not want to go to its shareholders and say we want to invest in it,” said Anthony Young of Dahlman Rose & Co, an investment bank in New York.
A giant copper contract was handed out in 2007 to a Chinese consortium for a deposit in the Aynak region south of Kabul.
The Afghan mining ministry is doing an international roadshow later this month to revive an iron ore tender scrapped in February, partly due to lack of interest and market instability at that time.
Chinese and Russian companies are expected to be among bidders for the iron ore tender for the Hajigak deposit west of Kabul, but many North American mining houses are likely to stay away and point to problems with the first copper contract.
The Canadian mining company Hunter Dickinson lost a bid for the copper deposit to China's top producer, Jiangxi Copper Co, and China Metallurgical Group Corp.
“Given the escalation of violence in the country, it turned out alright for us,” said Robert Schafer, executive vice president of business at the Canadian firm.
Schafer said it would take a long time before the industry showed profits, pointing out that from the moment a discovery was made it usually took seven to 10 years before it could be seen as profitable and could take as long as two decades. Other mining firms are also cautious, citing basic infrastructure issues, power and other problems.
“From our standpoint, power plants had to be built and there were lots of other things. Their expectations were a lot higher than the reality,” said one mining industry source whose company looked into the copper bid. He declined to be named.
The World Bank has been working to improve Afghanistan's nascent mining sector and points to many gaps in the “value chain”, including transforming the mines ministry.
“It has to be changed from a Soviet-style operating body to a regulatory apparatus or ministry as we would have in most countries,” said Gary McMahon, a senior mining specialist at the World Bank.
“You are not going to see the majors (big mining firms) going into Afghanistan ... but there are mining companies which will say it is worth the risk,” said McMahon, who was in Kabul last week to see Afghan officials.
There are also concerns over the mining law and whether the finder of a deposit has the right to exploit it.
“The government has the intent to make ‘the right to mine' more in line with international practice,” McMahon said.
The Pentagon believes Afghanistan's untapped mineral deposits may be worth more than $1 trillion and could help the country's economy and help US efforts to bolster its war-battered government, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday.
“It's certainly potentially good news, especially for Afghanistan,” said Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan.
Including the two well-known, world-class deposits of copper and iron ore, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has pinpointed 24 areas across Afghanistan which it says show most mineral potential, including magnesium, chromium, gold, nickel, mercury and lithium and other rare minerals used for mobile phones and other technology.
“Unfortunately it (rare minerals) is right in the middle of what the military call the kinetic (war) zone,” said USGS expert Jack Medlin.
Air surveys have also shown oil and gas deposits which earlier Soviet studies highlighted. However, one in the Helmand basin that was expected to yield great potential may not be all it was cracked up to be, Medlin said. There have also been enormous problems gathering accurate soil and rock samples because of the war and much data has not been verified, particularly in the Helmand area, he added.


Clic here to read the story from its source.