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Afghanistan to grow into world’s biggest exporter of minerals – official

Other News Materials 25 April 2015 19:29 (UTC +04:00)
One of the greatest jobs carried out by the current Afghan administration is in the field of mines
Afghanistan to grow into world’s biggest exporter of minerals – official

Tehran, Iran, April 25

By Temkin Jafarov, Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

One of the greatest jobs carried out by the current Afghan administration is in the field of mines, Trade Attaché at the Afghan Embassy in Tehran Abdolhadi Farhang told Trend on April 25.

Afghanistan will be the biggest exporter of minerals in a few years, he said.

"Shale mines in Afghanistan are being tapped and we have quarries and copper mines. The biggest iron quarries are found in Afghanistan. Afghanistan will be the world's biggest exporter of copper and iron in a few years," he said.

He further stated that the Afghani government has eased laws on mines.

Despite being one of the poorest nations in the world, Afghanistan may be sitting on one of the richest troves of minerals in the world, valued at nearly $1 trillion, according to U.S. scientists' report from September, 2014.

The aerial surveys determined that Afghanistan may hold 60 million tons of copper, 2.2 billion tons of iron ore, 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, and lodes of aluminum, gold, silver, zinc, mercury and lithium. For instance, the Khanneshin carbonatite deposit in Afghanistan's Helmand province is valued at $89 billion, full as it is with rare earth elements.

The official also provided comments on his country's energy section.

Afghanistan imports 5 to 7 million metric tons of fuel from Caspian Sea littoral countries, Turkmenistan in particular, per year.

"Fuel_ gasoline and gas oil_ is usually bought from Turkmenistan and carried to Amirabad (Neka) port by 5,000-ton ships and then from there to Herat, Afghanistan; and from there to other places in Afghanistan," he stated.

Nonetheless, Farhang said, various oil and gas fields have been discovered in the country which will be tapped in the future.

Mehdi Sepahvand is Trend Agency's journalist in Iran, follow him on Twitter: @mehdisepahvand

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