page_title: Mining in Afghanistan
section_title: Gemstones
hierarchical_section_title: Mining in Afghanistan / Commodities / Gemstones
caption_attribution_description: English: Elbaite Locality: Paroon Mine, Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan (Locality at mindat.org) Size: large cabinet, 16 x 9 x 3.5 cm Tourmaline var. Indicolite This is the "Freilich indicolite" as some have called it, a dramatic and vibrant piece with nearly electric color. The piece is complete all around, fully terminated, and free of damage. It weighs in at just over 1 kilo or 2.25 pounds. As the scan from the 2001 Sotheby's Auction Catalogue from the Joseph Freilich Auction states:"This remarkable cluster of parallel-growth tourmalien sis formed in such a way that light enters the crystals and shows the magnificent variations of green and (mostly) blue color . This effect is the result of the thin spread of the crystals." In other words, it is VERY translucent to light, though not gemmy per se, and the overlal effect is to make the piece literally GLOW with intensely blue color with even minimal backlighting. From the front, this is surprising because given the width you expect this to be a piece with equal thickness and so not transmissive to light.However, the illusion is that the front is really the palisade of the individual crystals grown together, none of them more than 3 cm thick; and thus the piece is surprisingly colorful in a case whereas most large indicolites are basically glorified schorls unles syou put a torch on top of them. I LOVE this piece. It is one of two specimens form this pocket which Freilich owned, and I was privileged to handle the other one back in 2001. This is, I can say , the better of the two specimens. You can see that even then, it was valued at $14-16k and in 2001 the market was at a whole different setpoint than it is now. I think it a bargain, today, and it is MUCH MUCH more impressive in person. Note that this comes with a lucite base, in which it is embedded solidly (attached with glue to the bottom, by previous owner). Looks good, and its sure stable, so I didn't carve it out and remove this base which now comes with the piece. Deutsch: Elbait Fundort: Paroon Mine, Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar, Afghanistan (Fundort bei mindat.org) Größe: 16 x 9 x 3.5 cm
context_page_description: 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 value at Int$3 trillion. of untapped minerals.
  There are six lapis mines in Afghanistan, the largest being located in Badakhshan province. There are around 12 copper mines in the country, including the Aynak copper deposit located in Logar province. Afghanistan's significance from an energy standpoint stems from its geographical position as a transit route for oil, natural gas, and electricity exports from Central Asia to South Asia and the Arabian Sea. This potential includes the construction of the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline gas pipeline. The first Afghan oil production began in late 2012.
context_section_description: Afghanistan is known to have exploited its precious and semi-precious gemstone deposits. These deposits include aquamarine, emerald and other varieties of beryl, fluorite, garnet, kunzite, ruby, sapphire, lapis lazuli, topaz, tourmaline, and varieties of quartz.  Corundum deposits (sapphire and ruby) in the country are largely exhausted, and very little gem quality material is found. The four main gemstone-producing areas are those of Badakhshan, Jegdalek, Nuristan, and the Panjshir Valley. Artisanal mining of gemstones in the country used primitive methods. Some gemstones were exported illicitly, mostly to India (which was the world's leading import market for colored gemstones and an outlet for higher quality gems) and to the domestic neighboring Pakistan market.
caption: Elbaite from Nangarhar Province
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