Above 3,000 carats of Panjsher emeralds fetch $143,600

PARAKH (Pajhwok): The Department of Mines and Petroleum in central Panjsher province has sold 3,292 carats of emerald for $143,600, an official said on Tuesday.

Mohammad Qasim Amir, director of mines and petroleum, said more than 100 traders from Panjsher, Kabul, Kapisa, Parwan, Nangarhar, Kandahar and Laghman provinces took part in the auction.

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

The number of emeralds mines in Panjsher is 1,700, out of which extraction work is underway at 550 sites.

hz/ma