A number of gold miners and owners of gold-washing workshops in Badakhshan say that official mining activity in the province has been halted for two months. They say they had invested in extracting the mines, but with the suspension, their capital is stuck in the operations, and they have suffered losses. According to them, people who pay bribes to the Taliban or have ties and closeness to the group continue their activities at night.
Several of these miners say that two months ago the Taliban halted gold mining activity in the province and ordered that all miners must obtain work permits from the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines. They say that before starting work, they spent money on purchasing and transporting equipment, preparing sites, and hiring workers, but now they are unable to continue operations or recover their costs.
Nematullah (pseudonym), a miner in the Golgadara area of the Shiva region, says he has invested about 50,000 US dollars in this mine. He adds that with the work suspended, his capital is stuck.
The man says: “We invested with the hope of work and income, but now everything has stopped. I have spent about 50,000 dollars. For now, we have no work and no way to get back the money we invested. Every day the work remains halted, our losses grow.”
The miners say that with the approach of winter, snowfall and severe cold could damage their equipment and increase their losses.
Rezashah (pseudonym), another miner in Shahr-e Buzurg district, says he invested in this sector together with several partners, and his personal share is about 80,000 dollars.
He says part of this money was spent on purchasing equipment, preparing the mine, paying workers’ salaries, and renting land.
The miner adds: “We are several partners, and I personally invested about 80,000 dollars. This money was spent on purchasing equipment and preparing the mine. Now that work has stopped, our capital has remained stuck there. We demand that if there is a problem, a solution be found so that we can work again and at least save our capital.” They say they have repeatedly approached the Taliban’s Directorate of Mines in Badakhshan to pursue their demands, but have so far received no satisfactory response.
However, sources say that companies affiliated with the Taliban and individuals who pay bribes to the group continue indiscriminate mining in most areas. They add that most of these companies operate at night, and in some areas, by paying large sums to the Taliban, mining continues during the day as well.
These concerns are being raised as the Taliban in Badakhshan have said that a new procedure has been devised for mining activities, which paves the way for reopening the mines. They say this procedure has not yet been practically implemented, and the exact time for resuming mining activities is not clear.
In recent years, mining in Badakhshan has become one of the lucrative sources of income for local Taliban and senior officials of the group. According to the findings of multiple reports by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, several local and senior Taliban officials have engaged extensively in gold mining by establishing companies and providing equipment, and have also collected bribes and shares from miners and workers.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
استخراج طلا در بدخشان؛ شریکان طالبان فعال و سرمایه دیگران متوقف است
