Mineral Resources in Afghanistan
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MINERAL RESOURCES IN AFGHANISTAN 2020 momp.gov.af1 Standard Disclaimer This is a technical document drawing on multiple data sources, all of which are open source. While any analysis is based on this data, both sins of commission or omission are the responsibility of the MoMP Public Relations Directorate. Should there be either typographic or data errors in the report, kindly communicate these in writing to [email protected] and a revised version will be posted online. Copyright Statement All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Public Relations Directorate, Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Abdulhaq Square, Kabul, Afghanistan. Compiled by: Hussaindad Shafai Abdullah Asifi Said Amin Hashimy Habibullah Mirkhail Qasim Akbar Designed by: Rohola Rezaei Cover and above photograph: Shah Foladi Geology Park, Bamyan by Dr. Hassan Malestani 2020 © Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Contents 4 Geologic and Mineral Resource Map of Afghanistan 7 Introduction 8 Copper 14 Iron Ores 22 Phosphate 26 Magnesite/Talc 31 Chromite 35 Porphyry Cu-Mo-Au 40 Gold 48 Fluorspar 52 Granite Dimension Stone 56 Lead and Zinc 63 Limestone/Cement 66 Gemstones 70 Marbles 76 Tendering Process 78 References Download our publications at momp.gov.af Mining Sector Roadmap + REFORM STRATEGY EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES 2019 momp.gov.af 4 5 MINERAL RESOURCES IN AFGHANISTAN INTRODUCTION Afghanistan is endowed with abundant natural resources that remain largely untapped. The country has world-class deposits of iron ore, copper, gold, rare-earth minerals, and a host of other natural resources. Similarly, the presence of petroleum resources has long been known in Afghanistan but these resources were exploited only to a limited extent. Bulk metals, such as iron ore, copper, aluminum, tin, lead and zinc, are located in multiple areas of the country. And, gemstones, rare-earth metals, sulfur, talc, gypsum and chromite, are predominant across Central Afghanistan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Logar, Khost, among other places. Much of the petroleum resource potential of Afghanistan and all of the crude oil and natural gas reserves are in northern Afghanistan, located in parts of two petroliferous geologic basins – the Amu Darya Basin to the west and the Afghan Tajik Basin to the east. The Government of Afghanistan sees Afghanistan’s vast mineral and hydrocarbon resources as a catalyst of long-term economic growth. Accordingly, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) designed several consequential documents, including the Mining Sector Roadmap, a new Minerals Law, and a new Hydrocarbons Law as part of its commitments to open the mining and hydrocarbon sectors for private investment. To sustainably utilize our natural resources, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum intends to tender new large-scale mining and hydrocarbon projects. The ministry is rigorously focused on attracting domestic and foreign investors to exploit Afghanistan’s plethora of mineral and hydrocarbon resources. This document will focus on the bankable investment opportunities in the mining sector which are ready for tendering. 7 MINERAL RESOURCES IN AFGHANISTAN COPPER Introduction Recent geological fieldwork by the plates produced the Himalayan Afghanistan Geological Survey orogeny. During this oblique Copper is an essential commodity aided by international advisors collision, NW directed subduction in today’s digital and electronic has improved the knowledge of occurred beneath the Tirin- age and in recent years has seen a these deposits and made the Argandab zone and calc-alkaline dramatic increase in its value. information available to the global granite bodies were intruded, Increased demand from the mining industry. accompanied by porphyry copper rapidly growing developing mineralization. The exotic terrane economies of Asia has led to a rise of the Kabul Block brought with it in mineral exploration and the Geology of Afghanistan sedimentary copper deposits like opening of new mines in adjacent Aynak - similar in age and style to regions. Afghanistan is well placed Afghanistan has a complex geology those of the Zambian Copper Belt. to meet this demand and the due to junction position between Aynak copper deposit, one of the the Indo-Australasian and largest in Asia, is currently being Eurasian plates. Its geology is developed by a Chinese company. composed of a series of small The country has a wealth of other terranes that broke away from the copper prospects, most notably a main Gondwana supercontinent number of porphyry copper before colliding, with each other deposits along part of the Tethyan or, with the Eurasian plate. Metallogenic Belt (TMB) and a Ultimately, all terranes accreted recently discovered volcanogenic onto the southern margin of the massive sulphide deposit (VMS) at Eurasian plate. The final closure of Balkhab. the Neo-Tethys ocean between the Indo-Australasian and Eurasian 60°0'0"E 63°0'0"E 66°0'0"E 69°0'0"E 72°0'0"E 75°0'0"E " "" " " Balkhab " . " BADAKHSHAN " " KUNDUZ JAWZJAN TAKHAR BALKH N " 0 ' N " Ahankashan 0 ° 0 ' 6 0 3 ° FARYAB " 6 SAMANGAN 3 " BAG"H"LAN " SARI PUL " "" " " " " " "" PARWAN NURISTAN BADGHIS " KAPISA KUNAR LAGHMAN BAMYAN " Legend " Shaida """K""A"B"U"L """""" "" WARDAK """"""" NANGARHAR " "" " HIRAT " " Provinces LOGAR GHOR """ " " "" "" " "" " Faults N " " PAKTYA Aynak 0 N " ' " " URUZGAN KHOST " 0 0 GHAZNI " Fault, normal, buried ° ' " " " 3 0 "" 3 ° " "" " " 3 " """ "" Porphyry Copper Deposits 3 " " " " " " " " " "" " "" "" "" " Prospective FA"RAH PAKTIKA " """ " ""ZABUL Favorable "" " " Permissive Copper Mineral Occurance " Zarkashan HILMAND "" " Cu KANDAHAR " NIMROZ Figure 1. Map of Afghanistan, showing major N Kundalyan " N 0 ' " " 0 0 ° ' 0 deposits and prospects, and permissive tracts 0 ° " 3 0 3 KM 0 65 130 260 390 520 for porphyry copper deposits (ppycu01-12) (after Peters et al., 2007). 60°0'0"E 63°0'0"E 66°0'0"E 69°0'0"E 72°0'0"E 75°0'0"E 8 Mineral Resources in Afghanistan Copper Copper Deposits Sediment-Hosted Stratiform Volcanogenic Massive Copper Deposits Sulphide There are around 300 documented copper deposits, occurrences and North Aynak Balkhab showings in Afghanistan (Abdullah Recent geological mapping of This poorly described occurrence and Chmyriov, 2008). A variety of the North Aynak area (Bohannon, has been reinvestigated by styles of copper mineralization 2010) and interpretation of high AGS and mapped using remote occur in rocks ranging in age from quality remote sensed data (Peters sensing data (Peters et al., 2011). Proterozoic to Neogene. These et al., 2011 and Department of The Balkhab copper volcanogenic include sediment-hosted, skarn, Defense, 2011) have improved the massive sulfide (VMS) prospect porphyry, and vein-hosted. The potential of this area and the latter lies within the Balkhab copper largest and best-known copper estimate that more than half of the area of interest and is part of an discovery in Afghanistan is the copper deposit could lie outside eroded inlier of deformed pre- world-class Aynakstratabound of the MCC area. One example Triassic, mainly Ordovician rocks, deposit hosted within Vendian- of a known occurrence in North in Sar-i-Pul Province. It lies in Cambrian quartz-biotite-dolomite Aynak is described below. The a canyon unconformably below metasedimentary rocks 30km Katasang occurrence is an 800m horizontal Mesozoic sedimentary southeast of Kabul. Soviet long, 3.6 to 13.8m thick (average rocks (Peters et al., 2011). Copper surveys in the 1970s and 1980s 7.2m) mineralized zone within mineralization consists of a outlined an indicated resource steeply dipping, albitized marble silicified limonite-bearing zone of 240Mt grading 2.3% Cu. containing disseminated bornite, 4,000 to 5,000m long by 300 However, Afghanistan has yet chalcopyrite, chalcocite and minor to 400m wide of deformed and to be evaluated in the light of malachite. Limited exploration faulted rock that contains at least modern mineral deposit models conducted at this site included four areas of extensive malachite, and improved analytical methods. 1:2,000-scale geological mapping, azurite, pyrite, and disseminated From a global perspective, trenching, and geochemical chalcopyrite, bornite, and galena Afghanistan is relatively under sampling, and resulted in the grading from 0.25 to 1.34% Cu. explored and the potential for calculation of a potential resource Old surface and underground further discoveries of copper and containing 42,100 tonnes of workings are in the high-grade other minerals is high. A ranking copper at an average grade of areas. In 2008 to 2009 the AGS of significant known deposits and 1.04% Cu (Kutkin and Gusev, 1977). confirmed the highly mineralized prospects is given below. The occurrence was classified copper zones. as “noncommercial,” but more detailed exploration by drilling was Ranking of Known Cu recommended. Deposits Figure 2. North Aynak Landsat TM enhanced color 1. Aynak image. TM bands 1-4-7 are 2. Zarkashan shown in blue-green-red. 3. Kundalyan Yellow outline is the Loy 4. Balkhab Khwar Formation that hosts 5. Shaida copper deposits. Spectral 6. North Aynak analyses of ASTER and 7. Akhankoshan HyMap images, shows that 8. Darrah-i-Alansang the distinctive tan-colored 9. Gologha outcrops within the Loy Khwar Formation are dolomite members, which host the Aynak copper deposit further south. 9 Mineral Resources in Afghanistan Copper DEPOSIT PROFILE 1 Deposit Name Balkhab Location Sari-i-Pul Province Deposit Style Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide Host geology Ordovician schist and phyllite with bimodal felsic volcanics Ore minerals Pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, bornite, galena, malachite, azurite Deposit geology Copper mineralisation consists of a silicified limonite-bearing zone 4 to 5m long by 300 to 400m wide Metal content Zone grades 0.25 to 1.34% Cu but no estimate of tonnage Remote sensing studies suggest Figure 3. Anomalous zones (1-7) determined that the mineralization may from Landsat TM alteration patterns in the extend for over 40km (Figure 3). Balkhab copper area (Peters et al., 2011). Figure 4. Malachite- and azurite-coated phyllite from Balkhab copper prospect (Peters et al., 2011).