Badghis is a northwestern province sharing borders with Herat in the west, Faryab in the east, Ghor in the south and Turkmenistan in the north. Qala-i-Naw is the provincial capital of the province. The total area of Badghis province is estimated at 32,000 square kilometers.
Based on mines department information, no survey has been conducted to explore natural resources in the province except some of the surveys carried out by the former Soviet Union in the Malmanji area of Qads district and Tora Shikh locality of Maqur district for the exploration of oil and gas.
1- Coal:
The coal reserves was said to be existing in the Taimani-u-Aman valley of Qala-i-Naw, the provincial capital. But the resources could not be explored because of growing insecurity.
The officials of the mines and petroleum department said that businessmen and locals have shown greater interest for investing in the Taimani-ul-Aman coal reservoir.
The mines department has been striving to award exploration contract of the site to a company. The remaining issues related to contract would be carried out by the ministry of mines and petroleum.
2- Plumbum:
The plumbum mine is situated in the Pust-al-Aman locality of Qala-i-Naw. However, no survey has been conducted in that area.
3-Stucco:
The mines of stucco are situated in the province and the locals know about the locations of stucco. The people had been extracting the resource in traditional manner.
4- Rocks and Send mines:
Widespread reserves of construction stones and send are available in the province. Meanwhile, the areas of valuable rocks and send were given on contract to Zarmast Private Company.
The collection of revenue is said to be transparent and no corruption case is noticed so far. Annually, the company pays 125,000 Afghani to the government.
5- Minerals Mines:
The signs of mineral reserves could be noticed in the north of Tirband Para Pamizad locality of Qads district.
The residents of the locality presented the mines department with some samples of solid materials, including coal, marble, granite and some other precious stones.
The exploration process for the process of minerals has not been started because the mines department is conducting surveys for exploration of oil and gas in the area.
6- Oil and Gas:
The Malmanjin locality of Qads district is said to have oil and gas reserves because the signs of dug-wells could be seen in the area. Malmanjin is located close to the natural reserves of Obi district of western Herat province. The area has oil and gas reserves but need to be explored properly.
7- Marble and Stucco Mines:
The marbles and stucco mines existed in different parts of Qads district. The reserves have been exploited in traditional way. However, the department of mines has promised to award the contracts of these reservoirs soon.
8- Rocks and Send Mines:
Several reservoirs of construction rocks and stones are available in the Qads district of which contract has been awarded to the Imran Construction Company. The company annually pays 68,000 Afghanis to the government.
9-Gold Mine:
Based on information of mines department, the gold mine is situated in the Kokchil area of Abkamri district. No formal survey has been conducted in the area in order to identify the amount of gold.
Foreign NGOs and Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) have shown interest to explore the sites but the residents of the locality did not allow digging wells.
The signs of azure, granite and other precious stones are found in the Mohammad Khan Tirband Parapamizad area. But the officials cannot visit the site because the area is almost in control of rebels.
10-Crude Oil:
There are signs of crude oil in the Turah Shikh area of Maqur district. The locality may possibly have large reserves of crude oil and gas because it is close to Faryab, Herat provinces and bordering Turkmenistan where abundant reserves of crude oil could be found.
In addition, the area is connected with the Amu and Kashka crude oil zone. The resident of the locality said that they could not bring their animal to the area for pasturing because the area gives bad smell.
The United States Geology Survey (USGS) had predicted the existence of crude oil in the area.
Others mines in Badghis:
The crude oil reserves can be found in different areas of Murghab district while the stucco, send and construction rocks existed in scattered areas of the province.
The possibility of precious stones resources is high in different areas of Jawand district, but the mines department had said that due to insecurity the area could not be properly explored for natural resources.
According to the mines department, Badghis province got 338,000 Afghanis revenue from the national treasury. The revenue of the rich mining sector could be increased if the government awards contract of the mines to efficient companies.