Balkhab Copper Mine

The Balkhab Copper Mine is located in the Sar-e-Pul and Balkh Provinces in north central Afghanistan, approximately 130 km south-west of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province. There is evidence of mineral extraction activities at Balkhab going back almost 3,000 years, likely to have been continuous mining of copper via surface and underground workings. The copper mine is of Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit (VMS), modern exploration was conducted during 1966-1972, consisting of mapping, trench and surface grab sampling and analysis. Recent work on the Balkhab copper prospect was initiated by the Afghan Geological Survey, at the request of villagers in the region. A reconnaissance sampling mission was carried out in 2008 by the Ministry of Mines. The Balkhab copper deposit could be as high as 150 million tonnes. Road access to the site is from Mazar-i-Sharif, and the area has the potential to benefit from the proposed rail link connecting Afghanistan to Pakistan. The Chaman-Kandahar-Logar province line is proposed to pass just east of the project area with a station planned at near-by town Ghazni. The closest power source identified is at Mazar-i-Sharif which is connected to the North East Power System main isolated grid. The main water source for the project is the significant stream, Rode Balkhab, which splits the licence area. The Government of Afghanista

Mine data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).