The Department of Mines and Petroleum of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has announced the start of chromite mining in Khost province, in the Tani district.
Mohammad Sadiq Hamza, head of mines and petroleum in Khost, told the media on Sunday that work to extract chromite has started after a local company was given a five-year contract.
Hamzah said over this five-year period, 21,000 tons of chromite ore will be extracted.
He said government will get 215 million afghanis from the proceeds.
“One ton of it (chromite) has been set at 10,000 afghanis, and in total, 21,500 tons of chromite will be extracted from this mine in the course of five years, and the revenue of 215 million afghanis will be gained,” said Hamza.
The ministry of mines said recently that an assessment of 650 mines had been carried out and that contracts would be awarded to local and foreign companies to start mining operations.
Mining companies have meanwhile said that the emerging process around mining in the country is an improvement as in the past, minerals were extracted illegally and money went into the pockets of individuals. Now however, the sector is being standardized and regulated and contracts are awarded to companies in a transparent and fair way.
Abdul Latif Wahedi, the operations manager of Nefrait Sharq, the company that won the contract for the chromite mine, said: “These contracts are now given to the companies in a transparent manner, and you can see that now every mine in different provinces is extracted in a standardized way, and with this, the government’s income will increase on the one hand, and on the other hand, job opportunities will be provided.”
Khost provincial officials meanwhile said that another two mines will also start up in the near future.
Mawlavi Mohammad Anwar Din Parwar, deputy governor of Khost, said that “in the coming days, you will witness the opening of two more mines in Khost province.”
Chromite is the only source of chromium and is used in the steel industry.
