LONDON: Afghanistan plans to tender in September for companies to develop its Hajigak iron ore deposit and aims to hold tenders of gold and copper deposits later in the year or early next year.

The country, fighting the Taliban militant group, plans to set up a protection unit to provide security for mining firms, Mining Minister Wahidullah Shahrani told a presentation in London.
The Hajigak iron ore deposit is in Bamiyan province, 130 km (81 miles) west of Kabul, and is billed as the largest unexploited iron ore deposit in Asia.
Shahrani is in London for a “road show” at which Afghanistan aims to boost interest in its major iron ore deposit and other minerals.
He said untapped mineral deposits in the country, including copper, iron ore, gold and aluminium, were estimated to be worth $1 trillion to $3 trillion. Officials from the U.S. Department of Defense said this month that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth could top $1 trillion, a finding that could reshape the country’s economy and help U.S.  efforts to bolster the government.
The Soviet Union carried out extensive studies on the Hajigak deposit in the 1960s, calculating a resource of 1.8 billion tonnes at 64 percent iron.
Shahrani said the Badakhstan gold deposit would go to tender later this year and the Balkap copper deposit early next year.
The landlocked country was developing an extensive network of roads and railroads, he added.
Afghanistan has already tendered for the Aynak copper deposit, which was won by a joint venture of China Metallurgical Group and Jiangxi Copper Corp.
CAUTION: The presentation was met with caution by some of those attending.
“My guess is that you will get some juniors going in, but I’m not sure you’ll find much appetite for some of the big projects. That may have to be left to the Chinese,” said analyst Charles Gibson at Edison Investment Research.
Shahrani earlier told BBC radio: “We are planning to develop a number of major strategic mineral deposits such as iron ore, copper, lithium, oil and gas in the next two to three years.”
Asked if the deposits could be exploited when Afghan and NATO-led forces are fighting Taliban insurgents, Shahrani said:
“Fortunately we have got different deposits in different parts of the country... The deposits which are going to be developed in the near future are all located in some of the most secure areas of the country.”
Shahrani said the Afghan government had recently restructured the Ministry of Mines, introduced new legislation and committed to a mining industry transparency initiative to ensure revenue from mining was collected in an open manner.
Analysts say the challenge in exploiting Afghanistan’s mineral wealth is huge and could take decades to overcome. The country has little mining infrastructure, is in the midst of a war and has a reputation for government corruption.