Mining Investment and Development for Afghanistan Sustainability (MIDAS)

The Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan faces an urgent need to generate sustainable sources of revenue. While several very large and potentially valuable mineral deposits have been identified in Afghanistan, GIRoA now realizes that such projects will take ten years or longer to start generating significant revenue. The Mission, therefore, recognizes the need to conduct core drilling activities that will enable Mining Investment and Development for Afghan Sustainability (MIDAS) to immediately support Afghanistan's efforts to generate revenue from the three high-value mineral deposits.

MIDAS and AGS must obtain some core samples from the most accessible (and least complicated as regards start-up of mining operations) of the high-value deposit sites before the snow season makes drilling impossible. Once core samples are obtained andanalyzed, Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) will be able to prepare the tenders needed for private sector mining companies to bid on extraction of tantalum, and possibly granite.