Taliban sign $20 million gold mining deal in Kunduz

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Taliban on Sunday informed of signing a $20.2 million contract for the extraction of gold in northern Kunduz province with Afghan and Azerbaijani companies.

According to the Taliban-run Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the five-year agreement covers a gold mine in Qala-e-Zal district and was signed with the Afghan company Subhan Momand and Azerbaijan’s Reef Group.

The ministry said the project would cover nearly 6 square kilometers of mining area.

Under the agreement, the companies are required to pay a 30 percent royalty to the Taliban administration and spend an additional $200,000 on social services and local development projects.

The ministry said the project was expected to create employment opportunities for about 100 people, both directly and indirectly.

The ministry added that the ambassadors of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan attended the signing ceremony and welcomed expanded economic cooperation and investment in Afghanistan’s mining sector.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have increasingly promoted Afghanistan’s vast untapped mineral resources as a key source of economic revenue and foreign investment.

They have previously announced at least seven mining agreements involving companies from Afghanistan, China, Turkey, Iran and United Kingdom.

But critics, including economists and anti-corruption advocates, have repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the contracts, revenue collection and oversight of Afghanistan’s mining sector.

Questions have also persisted about how mining revenues are managed under Taliban rule and whether local communities benefit from extraction projects.

Afghanistan is believed to hold significant reserves of gold, copper, lithium and rare earth minerals, though decades of conflict, insecurity and weak governance have hindered large-scale development of the sector.

At the same time, illegal and unregulated mining remains widespread in several provinces, particularly in Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan, where local residents and analysts say gold extraction often occurs outside formal oversight mechanisms.

In recent months, disputes over mining operations in parts of Badakhshan have triggered armed clashes and tensions involving local residents, armed groups and Taliban-linked figures.

Courtesy: www.amu.tv