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| Economy of Afghanistan |
The economy of Afghanistan has improved significantly since 2002 due to the infusion of multi-billion dollars in international assistance and investments, as well as remittances from Afghan expats. It is also due to dramatic improvements in agricultural production and the end of a four-year drought in most of the country. However, Afghanistan still remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world that is highly dependent on foreign aid. As of 2010, the nation's GDP is $29.81 billion and the GDP per capita is $1,000.
About 35 percent of its population is unemployed and live below the poverty line, suffering from shortages of housing, clean drinking water, electricity and employment. The Karzai administration along with international donors have remained committed to improving access to these basic necessities by prioritizing infrastructure development, education, housing development, jobs programs, medical care, and economic reform. The replacement of the opium trade, which probably makes up about one-third of the country's GDP, is one of several potential spoilers for the economy over the long term.
The Afghan economy has always been agricultural, despite the fact that only 12% of its total land is arable and less than 6% currently is cultivated. Agriculture production is constrained by an almost total dependence on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water. As of 2007, the country's fruit and nut exports were at $113 million per year but could grow to more than $800 million per year in 10 years given the proper investment. Afghanistan
Mining in Afghanistan
It is estimated that forty million years ago the tectonic plates of India-Europe, Asia and Africa collided in a massive upheaval. This upheaval created the region of towering mountains that now includes Afghanistan. That process also deposited vast amounts of minerals, including gold, copper, lithium, iron ore, cobalt, natural gas and oil in a country later written off as wartorn and poverty stricken.
As of 2006, "the mineral resources of Afghanistan were relatively underexplored from a global perspective. The country has extensive deposits of barite, chromite, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, natural gas, petroleum, precious and semiprecious stones, salt, sulfur, talc, and zinc. Precious and semiprecious stones include high-quality emerald, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. Ongoing instability in certain areas of the country, the country’s remote and rugged terrain, and an inadequate infrastructure and transportation network have made mining these deposits difficult. Afghanistan’s mining industry was using primitive methods and outdated equipment. The country had approximately 200 mines, some of which were still under the control of local warlords as of 2006. Production data for mineral commodities were not readily available as of 2006." Afghanistan has 89 rich mineral fields with an easy extraction and utilisation possibility, according to information published by Persian Encyclopedia of Economics and Management. Based on the information most of Afghan mines are still intact. With the biggest rich mines of lapis, gold, turquoise, coal, copper, iron, barite and as well as oil and gas fields Afghanistan is one of the countries with the richest and biggest intact mines in the world. There are six big lapis mines in Afghanistan with the biggest one located in northern Badakhshan province. Badakhshan is also home to one of the biggest gold mines in the country, based on the information. Based on the information there are around 12 copper mines in Afghanistan out of which Aynak copper deposit located in Logar province is the biggest of all.
As of 2006, gold was mined from the Samti placer deposit in Takhar Province in the north by groups of artisanal miners. Badakhshan Province also had occurrences of placer gold deposits. The deposits were found on the western flanks of the mountains in alluvium or alluvial fan in several river valleys, particularly in the Anjir, the Hasar, the Nooraba, and the Panj Valleys. The Samti deposit is located in the Panj River Valley and was estimated to contain between 20 and 25 metric tons of gold. Alluvial gold An estimated $30 billion in gold and copper deposits in the Zana Khan, an area of the Zarkashan skarn deposit in Ghazni province.
The best known and largest iron oxide deposit in Afghanistan is located at Hajigak in Bamyan Province. The deposit itself stretches over 32 km and contains 16 separate zones, up to 5 km in length, 380 m wide and extending 550 m down dip, seven of which have been studied in detail. The ore occurs in both primary and oxidized states. The primary ore accounts for 80% of the deposit and consists of magnetite, pyrite and minor chalcopyrite. The remaining 20% is oxidized and consists of three hematitic ore types. The deposit remained unmined in 2006. The presence of coking coal nearby at Shabashak in the Dar-l-Suf District and large iron ore resources made the deposit viable for future development of an Afghan steel industry. Open pit mining and blast furnace smelting operations were envisioned by an early feasibility study.
Afghanistan is known to have exploited its precious and semiprecious gemstone deposits. These deposits include aquamarine, emerald, fluorite, garnet, kunzite, ruby, sapphire, semiprecious lapis lazuli, topaz, tourmaline, and varieties of quartz. The four main gemstone-producing areas are those of Badakhshan, Jegdalek, Nuristan, and the Panjshir Valley. Artisanal mining of gemstones in the country used primitive methods. Some gemstones were exported illicitly, mostly to India (which was the world’s leading import market for colored gemstones and an outlet for higher quality gems) and to the domestic Pakistan market.
The U.S. Geological Survey and the Ministry of Mines and Industries jointly assessed the oil and gas resources in northern Afghanistan. The estimated mean volumes of undiscovered petroleum were 1,596 million barrels (Mbbl) of crude oil, 444 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and 562 Mbbl of natural gas liquids. Most of the undiscovered crude oil occurs in the Afghan-Tajik Basin and most of the undiscovered natural gas is located in the Amu Darya Basin. These two basins within Afghanistan encompass areas of approximately 515,000 square kilometers.