PUL-I-ALAM/KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday paid a surprise visit to central Logar province and terminated contracts with two foreign mining companies involved in extraction of chromite, the acting governor said.
Niaz Mohammad Amiri said the president arrived on an unannounced visit and inspected the Mes Aynak copper reservoirs. He said the president scrapped contracts with the two foreign firms, but he had no idea why.
PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): Senior officials on Monday said 86 security posts had been set up around the Ainak copper mine in central Logar province and urged investors to resume work on tapping the world’s largest deposits.
A landmark $3 billion deal was signed with the China Metallurgical Group (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper to produce copper in 2007, but the consortium has demanded a review of the deal, dashing Kabul's hope for economic self-reliance.
PUL-I-ALAM (PAN): The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has intentionally paved the ground for illegal mining and smuggling of chromite in central Logar province, officials alleged on Wednesday.
Chromite is an industrially important mineral for the production of metallic chromium, used as an alloying ingredient in stainless and tool steels, as well as a refractory material, because it has high heat stability.
PUL-I-ALAM (PAN): Chinese workers have warned of halting extraction activities at the Mes Ainak copper mine in central Logar province if their security was not improved, an official said on Monday.
The Mohmmad Agha district chief, Abdul Hamid Hamid, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Chinese workers had told him they would stop extraction works if their security was not strengthened.
