Afghanistan’s transition out of war is not shaping up to be very peaceful. Every day seems to bring another militant attack and more civilian lives lost as Afghan forces struggle to take over security ahead of the pullout of most foreign troops next year. Powerful women are being targeted with violence and kidnapping in parts of the country that are slipping back under Taliban control, and the no one is quite sure what will happen come elections next spring, when long-time leader President Hamid Karzai has said he will step down from power.
Whether Afghanistan can find more stable ground depends in no small part on the government’s ability to wean itself off outside aid. Many think the country’s rich natural resources are destined to be part of that. Oil and gas exploitation are in their nascent stages, and the U.S. government has estimated that the nation’s mineral wealth could be worth as much as $1 trillion. Over several decades, geologist have identified rich deposits of copper, gold, iron ore, lithium and rare earths around the country. The challenge is getting people to show up and put some money into digging them up. Though artisanal mining for stones like emeralds and lapis lazuli has been done here for centuries, large investment in the potentially lucrative industrial mining sector has a long way to go. Part of the problem is safety, part of the problem is that not enough exploration has been done to attract even risk-prone investors, and part of the problem is concern over what will happen to the money once it does start to come.
“There is potential in the country, but it’s how you manage it,” says Atiq Sediqi, an adviser to the Ministry of Mines. “If it goes into pockets, like it has in Congo or Nigeria, then we’re doomed.”
Yuri Kozyrev is a contract photographer for TIME and was named the 2011 Photographer of the Year in the Pictures of the Year International competition.
Krista Mahr is TIME’s South Asia Bureau Chief and correspondent in New Delhi, India.
The following photographs were made in May 2013.
China Metallurgical Group Corporation has built barracks for its workers in the area where it plans to start mining, but downsized the staff there when the project was delayed after ancient Buddhist ruins were discovered in Logar Province, Afghanistan.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEEmerald miners on top of a mountain in the Panjshir Valley, north-central Afghanistan. Each team of miners has dozens of investors who financially support them in turn for an equal share in whatever gems they find.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEWorkers in an emerald mine, Panjshir Valley, north-central Afghanistan. The illegal mines are pitch black and workers work by headlamp, flashlight and kerosene lamp.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEAfghan Gold and Minerals is one of the few private mining companies that is exploring for gold in Afghanistan today.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMERock samples collected from an exploration site where Afghan Gold and Minerals is searching for gold. The samples will be ground down and sent back to a laboratory in Kabul for analysis.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEEmployees of Afghan Gold and Minerals drill into the rock with jackhammers.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEGirls cross the bridge in Kalanyozar, Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. As part of its community outreach program, Afghan Gold and Minerals has donated a school bus to the area that shuttles children from several villages to this school all year round.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEA group of emerald miners take a tea break in their makeshift tent at the top of the mountain in Panjshir Valley.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEFarmers say they can’t make enough money raising crops alone in the valley where Afghanistan Gold and Minerals operates.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEThe valley where Afghanistan Gold and Minerals operates is stunning — and extremely poor.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMESamat, who is from a nearby village, has been employed by Afghan Gold and Minerals as the head of security at this processing plant in Baghlan Province.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEThe archaeological dig at Mes Aynak has employed villagers from the around the area for whom there is little other work.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEBuddhist relics were unearthed by miners were digging for copper in the deposits that Chinese companies now want to excavate. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEA worker emerges from an emerald mine, Panjshir Valley. After explosives are set off in the rocks, miners use large plastic tubes to draw out dust and smoke so they can go back in to work.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEGirls on school bus in Kalanyozar, Baghlan Province.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEA valley where emeralds are mined, Panjshir Valley, north-central Afghanistan.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
