Herat enjoys a gold rush

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Herat enjoys a gold rush

By Mohammad Ishaq Quraishi

HERAT - Mohammad is a smuggler, not an unusual trade for someone living in Herat, just 120 kilometers from the border with Iran. But Mohammad is not dealing in drugs or weapons, the typical contraband that flows back and forth across the border. Instead, he is dealing in gold.

He mines it himself, in Siah Koh (Black Mountain), near to Gulgandi, a remote village close to the frontier.

"I used to see Russian soldiers digging up rocks with gold and copper in them during the [occupation of the] 1980s," he said. "After they left, I gave it a try, using regular mining tools."

Now he digs between 500 grams and one kilogram of gold and copper ore every month with help from some workers. He smuggles it just across the border to Iran in his Mazda saloon, selling the gold ore for up to 5,000 afghani (US$100) per kilogram and copper ore for 1,800 afghani.

The area has many unauthorized gold diggers; with little oversight from authorities due to the insecurity in the area, people can dig up rocks containing precious and semi-precious metals and smuggle them to Iran and other countries.

The unauthorized miners lack the expertise to refine the minerals themselves but one mining expert who did not want to be identified confirmed that ore rich in copper had been found in the area.

Afghanistan's mineral wealth has not been properly surveyed but some studies show the country to be rich in natural mineral resources, according to Zalmai Mohammadi, who graduated from the economy faculty of Herat University. And it is not just minerals - "The precious stone industry could provide a great economic boost to the country if some investment were made," he said.

Economic analysts insist that Afghan minerals could be an important export for the country if the government paid more attention to the sector. However, with war raging in many parts of the country, government officials are more preoccupied with counter-insurgency efforts and elections than with economic development.

This leaves room for people like Ismail, who, like Mohammad, is a self-styled gold miner. Not such a successful one, however.

"I took some rocks that I thought were full of gold and copper to Herat City," he said. "But the goldsmiths there told me that there was no gold in them. No one was interested."

A jeweler in Herat, who would not give his name, confirmed that locals often brought in rocks with veins of gold or copper. "I do not buy them," he said. "It could cause problems, and, besides, I do not have the facilities to extract the gold from the rocks."

He was tempted, though.

"I have 40 years of experience in jewels, but I had never seen gold in rocks," he said. "It was interesting, but it is bad business. The local miners use explosives and other primitive tools, which can badly harm the economy of Afghanistan."

He estimates that the gold diggers in the west of the country could collectively earn up to US$800,000 a year.

With the world gold price riding high, one gram of it costs 1,800 afghani on the market.

Many precious stones, like emeralds and rubies, are found in eastern Afghanistan in places like Kunar, Nuristan, Badakhshan, Laghman and Panjshir and, to a lesser extent, in western Afghanistan. Precious stone dealer Ghulam Sayeed says that emeralds fetch $2,000 per gram on the international market and rubies $50.

There are a few surveyed and unsurveyed iron ore and gold mines in Herat province, according to engineer Sayed Husain Taibi, the deputy chief of minerals in the mines and industries department of Herat. "But the ongoing insecurity in most of the areas which have mines has allowed for unauthorized mining and the smuggling of precious stones," he said.

Not much is known about the province's mineral wealth, he said. "Experts in Iran have documents regarding the nearby region of Khorasan, but it is difficult for people to come and do surveys because of the insecurity. Engineers who were sent from Kabul had to go back without reaching the sites. So you can see how easy it would be to smuggle stones from there."