Geology News
Afghanistan Current Events

Cabinet ministers in Afghanistan are debating potential mineral resource legislation. They want the economic benefits of allowing foreign companies to explore and develop their resources but they are concerned about being taken advantage of.

An article in the Gemological Institute of America Insider newsletter tells how Vincent Pardieu, supervisor of field gemology for GIA, searches for gemstones in Afghanistan.

“For the first time, about 70 percent of a country has been mapped using an advanced remote sensing technique known as hyperspectral imaging. In order to assist Afghanistan in understanding their abundant natural resources, in particular the development of an economically viable minerals market, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations led an effort to fully map Afghanistan with hyperspectral data.”

Exxon Mobil, along with eight other companies, have expressed interest in an oil and gas auction that offers blocks of land in the Afghan-Tajik Basin.

An earthquake in northern Afghanistan triggered a landslide that buried part of a community. Dozens of people are feared dead.

USGS has published: “Lineament Analysis of Mineral Areas of Interest in Afghanistan“. The report provides lineament maps that identify areas that warrant further investigation for optimal bedrock water-well placement within 24 target areas for mineral resources. The data may also support the identification of faults related to modern seismic hazards and support studies attempting to understand the relationship between tectonic and structural controls on hydrothermal fluid flow, subsequent mineralization, and water-quality issues near mined and unmined mineral deposits.

“Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable, conventional petroleum resources for the Amu Darya Basin and Afghan–Tajik Basin Provinces of Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.