Minerals in Afghanistan : the potential for gold

Gold has been worked in Afghanistan for centuries from many areas including Takhar province in the north and from Ghazni, Zabul, and Kandahar provinces in the south-west of the country. Currently, gold is produced almost solely by artisanal miners working the Samti Placer Deposit in Takhar Province. Gold deposits and prospects are known in rocks of Proterozoic to Neogene age. Many styles of gold mineralisation occur, in particular skarn, vein-hosted, porphyry and alluvial. Afghanistan is relatively under-explored and has not yet been evaluated in the light of modern mineral deposit models and using up-to-date sophisticated analytical methods and exploration techniques. There is significant potential for further discoveries of gold mineralisation throughout the country in a variety of styles especially porphyry Cu-Au and skarn Cu-Au.