The Taliban Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has signed seven major mining contracts worth over $6.5 billion with domestic and foreign companies.
The signing ceremony was held on Thursday in the presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, and other officials of the group.
In a statement posted on X, the office of the Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs stated that the contracts include the extraction and processing of gold, copper, lead, and iron mines in different parts of the country. Domestic, Asian, and European companies have signed the contracts for these mines.
According to the statement, the contracts include four blocks of the iron ore mine in the Ghorian district of Herat province. Watan Dorokhshan Company, which includes Azaran Industrial Structures Company as a shareholder, was awarded the first block.
Sahil Middle East Mining & Logistics Company, whose partners are Dara-e-Noor, a local company, and Epcol, a Turkish company, was awarded the second block. Shamsh, a local company, with GBM and AD Resources, British companies, was awarded the third block.
Bakhtar Steel Company, with Ahya Sepahan and Parsian Iranian companies, was awarded the fourth block.
In addition, one block of the lead and zinc mine in Tulak district of Ghor province was awarded to Afghan Invest Company.
The Samti gold mine in Chah Ab district of Takhar province was awarded to the China-Afghanistan Company with Zarawar Afghanistan Private Company being the shareholder. And the Second Mess Aynak mine in Logar province was awarded to Turia Private Company.
The Taliban statement added that the projects will create thousands of jobs and significantly improve the economic situation of the country.
The signing of these contracts is the latest in a series of mining deals that the Taliban have signed since they returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
In January 2023, the group signed a deal worth $540 million with the Chinese company Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co (CAPEIC) to extract oil from northern Afghanistan’s Amu Darya basin.
The Taliban’s focus on mining has been met with criticism from some, who say that the group is selling off the country’s natural resources to foreign companies.