Panjsher emeralds sold for $405,500 at 12th auction

PARAKH (Pajhwok): The Department of Mines and Petroleum in central Panjsher province has sold 3,520 carats of emeralds for $405,500 an official said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Qasim Amir, director of mines and petroleum, said about 106 traders from Panjsher, Kabul, Kapisa, Uruzgan, Kandahar, Baghlan, Parwan, Faryab, Balkh and Badakhshan provinces took part in the 12th auction.

He said the emeralds sold had been extracted from six sites in Hisa-i-Awal district. Emerald mining in the province resumed in August after two years of suspension.

At the previous 11 auctions, emeralds were sold for more than $2.400 million, he recalled.

The number of emeralds mines in Panjsher is 1,250, out of which extraction work is underway at 350 deposits.

sa

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