SRK Exploration and SRK NA, as part of a consortium of consultants, lead the cross discipline advisory services to the Afghan government, Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP), and the Afghan Geological Survey (AGS) for a period of four years. The consortium advised on the development of the Afghan mining industry on technical, commercial, and legal angles involving advice on mining codes, laws and revenue generation, attraction of international mining investment, and in the identification, data collection, and promotion of the countries top tier mineral assets.
SRK’s commission involved the broad assessment of the mineral prospectivity of Afghanistan and in particular of the Tethyan belt across Afghanistan, resulting in the prioritisation of a number of mineral assets at various degrees of development. From this a set of four licences were selected for the MoMP to tender as part of an international bidding process designed and implemented by SRK and their partners. This resulted in the selection of a set of preferred bidders for the Shiada, Zarkashan, Balkhab, and Badakshan licence blocks. This process provided the MoMP with a template upon which future licences could be selected, vetted, awarded, and negotiated.
Other services provided during this four-year commission included the provision of technical training to the MoMP and AGS, mining industry advice to the Afghan parliament and donor agencies, and the design and oversight of ground exploration and drilling programmes on behalf of the MoMP on both North Aynak sedimentary copper and Dasht-e-Nawar lithium deposits.
