The economy of Afghanistan has had significant improvement in the last decade due to the infusion of billions of dollars in international assistance and remittances from Afghan expatriates. The assistance that came from expatriates and outside investors saw this increase when there was more political reliability after the fall of the Taliban regime. The nation's GDP stands at about $70 billion with an exchange rate of $20 billion (2017), and the GDP per capita is about $2,000. It imports over $6 billion worth of goods but exports nearly $1 billion only, mainly fruits and nuts.
Mes Aynak, also called Mis Ainak or Mis-e-Ainak, is a site 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, located in a barren region of Logar Province. Mes Aynak contains Afghanistan's largest copper deposit, as well as the remains of an ancient settlement with over 400 Buddha statues, stupas and a 40 ha monastery complex. Archaeologists are only beginning to find remnants of an older 5,000-year-old Bronze Age site beneath the Buddhist level, including an ancient copper smelter.
Buddhism in Afghanistan was one of the major religious forces in the region during pre-Islamic era. The religion was widespread south of the Hindu Kush mountains. Buddhism first arrived in Afghanistan in 305 BC when the Greek Seleucid Empire made an alliance with the Indian Maurya Empire. The resulting Greco-Buddhism flourished under the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the later Indo-Greek Kingdom in modern northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greco-Buddhism reached its height under the Kushan Empire, which used the Greek alphabet to write its Bactrian language.
Reko Diq is a small town in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is located in a desert area, 70 kilometres north-west of Naukundi, close to Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan. The area is located in Tethyan belt that stretches all the way from Turkey and Iran into Pakistan.
Jiangxi Copper is the largest copper producer in Mainland China. Its operations include copper mining, milling, smelting and refining to produce copper-related products, including pyrite concentrates, sulfuric acid and electrolytic gold and silver. Its chairman is Mr. Li Yuhuang and its headquarters is at Guixi, Jiangxi, China.
Balkhab is a district of Sar-e Pol Province, Afghanistan. The district seat lies at Balkhab, also known as Tarkhoj.
Mining in Afghanistan is controlled by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, which is headquartered in Kabul with regional offices in other parts of the country. Afghanistan has over 1,400 mineral fields, containing barite, chromite, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, natural gas, petroleum, precious and semi-precious stones, salt, sulfur, talc, and zinc, among many other minerals. Gemstones include high-quality emerald, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. According to a joint study by The Pentagon and the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has an estimated US$3 trillion of untapped minerals.
Arsala Jamal was an Afghan government official, who served as governor of the provinces of Khost and Logar in Afghanistan. He was assassinated in a bomb attack in Logar province of Afghanistan on 15 October 2013.
Kharwar District is a district of Logar Province, Afghanistan. It was created from Charkh District.
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of fossil fuels, metals, and industrial minerals due to its complex geology. In 2013, there were over 2,000 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom producing £34bn of minerals and employing 36,000 people.
Aynak is a place in Afghanistan's Logar province, about 30 km south-southeast of Kabul. It is the site of a large copper deposit.
Afghanistan – People's Republic of China relations were mostly warm and friendly during most of the 20th Century but after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, relations severely deteriorated. In the 21st century relations have improved significantly.
Mundigak is an archaeological site in Kandahar province in Afghanistan. It is situated approximately 55 km northwest of Kandahar near Shāh Maqsūd, on the upper drainage of the Kushk-i Nakhud River.
Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. Pakistan has deposits of several minerals including coal, copper, gold, chromite, mineral salt, bauxite and several other minerals. There are also a variety of precious and semi-precious minerals that are also mined. These include peridot, aquamarine, topaz, ruby, emerald, rare-earth minerals bastnaesite and xenotime, sphene, tourmaline, and many varieties and types of quartz .
Mining in North Korea is important to the country's economy. North Korea is naturally abundant in metals such as magnesite, zinc, tungsten, and iron; with magnesite resources of 6 billion tonnes, particularly in the Hamgyeong-do and Jagang-do provinces. However, often these cannot be mined due to the acute shortage of electricity in the country, as well as the lack of proper tools to mine these materials and an antiquated industrial base. Coal, iron ore, limestone, and magnesite deposits are larger than other mineral commodities. Mining joint ventures with other countries include China, Canada, Egypt, and South Korea.
Metallurgical Corporation of China Limited is a listed company in Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It is a subsidiary of China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC). In the past Baosteel Group was a minority shareholder.
Saving Mes Aynak is a 2014 independent documentary film, directed, produced, shot and edited by Brent E. Huffman. It was produced out of Kartemquin Films, the landmark Chicago-based documentary house, along with producer Zak Piper.
Brent Edward Huffman is an American director, writer, and cinematographer of documentaries and television programs, including Saving Mes Aynak (2015). His work has been featured on Netflix, The Discovery Channel, The National Geographic Channel, NBC, CNN, PBS, TIME, The New York Times and Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera English and premiered at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and many other U.S. and international film festivals. He is also an Associate Professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University where he teaches documentary production and theory.
