Mineral Resources Special Reports

After Kabul, Herat is the second most populated province of Afghanistan. Located in the west part of the country, Herat borders Iran and Turkmenistan.
Bestowed with abundant natural resources in its remote parts, the province has copper, iron, coal, marble, lithium, salt, stucco and precious stones deposits.
Herat Mines and Petroleum Director Eng. Abdul Jamil Ilyas said that natural resources in the province had been divided into three categories -- large, medium and small.

LASHKARGAH (PAN): The southern Helmand has around 16 different mines of precious and semi-precious stones but growing lawlessness has provided a renewed impetus to its illegal excavation and smuggling, an official said.
Esmatullah Shams, provincial mines department head, said the province was extremely rich in natural resources such as uranium, magnate, carbonate, stucco, zing, plumbum, quicksilver, alabaster and others.  
If properly excavated, the natural reservoirs of the province would considerably bolster the national economy, he added.