Afghans turn to gold panning along Kunar River as jobs remain scarce

KABUL: In eastern Afghanistan’s mountainous Kunar province, hundreds of men are searching riverbeds and mountainside debris for tiny amounts of gold as they try to earn a living in a country where work opportunities remain limited.

According to AFP, the activity is taking place along the Kunar River near the border with Pakistan, beneath the Hindu Kush peaks, some of which were still snow-covered in April. In areas including Kharwalu in Kunar province and Ghaziabad district, men dig into dry sections of the riverbed or cut into the mountainside before carrying sacks of stones to sieves for sorting.

They then use river water to wash the material, allowing lighter sand and smaller stones to slide away in the hope that gold flakes or tiny nuggets will remain. In some cases, the process continues through several rounds of sifting before any gold appears in a metal pan.

Fifty-year-old Shahzahdah Gollalah, one of the prospectors, said he had left construction work located a seven-hour drive from his home in Kabul and joined the search for gold instead. The father of eight told AFP,

“There are not many job opportunities in the country, and in this way, we have created work for ourselves”, adding that “the gold nuggets we find are usually smaller than a grain of wheat,”.

Further downstream in Ghaziabad, large numbers of men were seen using picks to break into the mountain and then hauling sacks down steep slopes on their backs. Others collected water from the river in yellow jerrycans fixed to long wooden handles and poured it over sieves to separate the heavier material.

Gul Ahmad Jan, 35, said the work can sometimes bring in meaningful earnings over a short period. He told AFP “We can get up to about one gram of gold which can sell for as much as 8,000 Afghanis ($125).”

Traditional methods continue in Kunar

Afghanistan’s natural resources were seldom fully developed during the years of conflict, though gold panning in Kunar has been going on for more than a decade, according to provincial information chief Najibullah Hanif.

Hanif said local residents learned the techniques from miners who came from other Afghan provinces known for gold deposits. He also said some people had begun using machinery, including excavators, prompting objections from local residents.

He told AFP “Some started to dig with machines, an excavator; some locals came and asked the Islamic Emirate (of Afghanistan) to stop them because it destroys the river and the mountains”.

Hanif estimated that thousands of people in Kunar are engaged in gold panning using traditional methods permitted by the authorities.

AFP reported that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth has drawn both domestic and foreign investor interest in recent years, with the Taliban authorities encouraging mining activity in different parts of the country.