Afghanistan In the Taliban administration in Logar province, the underground Buddhist religion old works The Mace Aynak copper mine, discovered under the , has started work on it, which has been described by Afghan governments in the past as a ‘project that will change the destiny of the country’.
Construction of the nine-kilometer road leading to the copper mine was inaugurated in the capital, Kabul, in a ceremony attended by representatives of the Taliban government and China’s ambassador to Afghanistan.
A Chinese company has been awarded the mining contract for the Mes Aynak mine, which is considered to be the largest copper deposit in the world.
According to an estimate, there are 50 billion US dollars of copper deposits in Mace Aynak mine.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, the caretaker minister of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Petroleum, said that the previous government had not completed the work on this project and he is happy that the work on this project has started.
He said: ‘The Chinese company will operate the mine under an agreement reached in 2008 with Afghanistan.’
Archaeological significance
The Mes Aynak mine is located on the site of an ancient Buddhist city of the same name along the Silk Road, where the structures and artifacts found have led archaeologists to believe that as early as 2,000 years ago, The inhabitants had mined copper here.
The presence of historical Buddhist remains under the copper mine has been a source of concern for international experts, preventing previous governments in Kabul from starting work on the project.
William Dylrymple, who is well versed in the history of Afghanistan, in his book William Dylrymple’s return of a king: Battle of Afghanistan 1839-42, has mentioned in detail the copper mine called Mace Aynak.
William writes that ‘French geologists were surveying for traces of copper in the village of Mace Ainq in 1963, when excavations uncovered a Buddhist city about six kilometers below ground.
“Then in the 70s, further excavations were carried out and several tunnels were dug, one of which was later used by al-Qaeda as a hideout, while the same (Mes Aynak) village also served as the organization’s training camp.”
William added: ‘In 2004, French geological experts revisited the site and discovered more artefacts, including copper artefacts.
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“Experts then said that the site was a center of Buddhism from the 1st century BC to the 10th century, when Chinese scholars traveled to China on the Silk Road and Mace Aynak was an important residence for Chinese monks.”
Willem wrote that the Chinese then came to the same place in 2008, but this time not as monks or scholars, but as Ming experts and with the cooperation of companies called China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC Group) and Sianqi Copper for three billion dollars. Got this place on lease for a year.
According to Chinese experts, there is copper worth more than 100 billion dollars in this place, which is considered to be the largest copper mine in the world.
According to a report by the US Institute of Peace, China took the contract for this copper mine worth more than 50 billion dollars in 2008, but at that time it was not easy to accept the conditions of the government of Afghanistan and that is why the project was delayed. He was a victim.
According to the report, another major reason for the slow pace of work on the project was security, while the conditions included a Chinese company laying a railway track from Torkham Road in Pakistan and Afghanistan to Uzbekistan.
According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Mes Aynak is the second largest copper deposit in the world, which was also mined by Russian experts but was closed in 1989 due to the war.
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2024-07-27 23:00:11