Afghanistan- Samangan coalmines revenue exceeds last year's limit

(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) AIBAK (Pajhwok): The revenue of two coalmines in the Dara-i-Suf Bala district of northern Samangan province reached more than 2.8 billion afghanis in the ongoing year.

Eng. Mahmood, deputy head of the Samangan coalmine enterprise, told Pajhwok Afghan News that last year the revenue generated from Shabashak and Dahna Toar coalmines was 2.3 billion afghanis.

He said more extraction and rising demand were the main factors in increasing the income of these mines, saying that 90precent of the coal were exporting to , and the rest consumed internally.

It excludes income from Garmak-i-Gharbi, Garmak-i-Sharqi and Rashk coalmines, the three mines have been leased out to the private sector by the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, he added.

Mohammad Siddique, the governor's spokesman, said the government obtaining hundreds of million afghanis from these three mines annually.

Ahmad Ali Hussaini, the district's administrative chief, said 10,000 individuals from different provinces of the country were extracting coal from the mine.

According to the officials, coalmine reserves lie in the form of a belt along the Mountain stretching from Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan, and Bamyan to Sar-i-Pul.

Sa/nh

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