Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said this week that 250 domestic and foreign firms have submitted their bids for the iron mine in Herat and lead mine in Ghor province.Esmatullah Burhan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, said that it is evaluating the bids and will soon announce the winners.The iron ore in Herat's Ghoryan district is estimated to hold 18 million tons of iron.
The lead mine in Ghor is also considered to be one of the largest lead mines in the region.The government will collect a good amount of revenue from it.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be generated directly or indirectly,& said Burhan.Private sector members say IEA should prefer domestic companies over foreign firms for investment in the mining sector.It is in the plan of IEA to prefer the domestic companies.
Domestic companies would initially bring small companies and then big companies to make major investment in Afghanistan,& said Sherbaz Kaminzada, head of Chamber of Industries and Mines.Economic experts believe attracting investments in the major mines would help address economic challenges and poverty in the country.Considering the existing situation, I think it will benefit the Afghan economy because it will help reduce unemployment, increase tax and find markets for our minerals,& said Taj Mohammad Talash, an economic expert.Afghanistan possesses a wealth of nonfuel minerals whose value has been estimated at more than US$1 trillion.However, this sector has remained largely untouched as the former government was never able to successfully regulate the industry.
For generations, the country has been renowned for its gemstones & rubies, emeralds, tourmalines and lapis lazuli.The post 250 companies submit bids for iron, lead mines in Afghanistan first appeared on Ariana News.