# Vancouver mining company Hunter Dickinson bidding for Afghanistan copper mine



## GAP (21 Sep 2007)

Vancouver mining company Hunter Dickinson bidding for Afghanistan copper mine
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KABUL - Robert Schafer offers a laugh when asked why on earth his company, Vancouver-based Hunter Dickinson Inc., would want to operate a copper mine in the war-ravaged hills of Afghanistan.

It's a question he's obviously been asked before and the answer is simple.

"The quality of this deposit would place it as one of the best copper mines in the world," says Schafer, vice-president of business development.

According to decades-old Russian estimates, the Logar province of Afghanistan holds reserves of 11 billion tonnes of copper, which would make it the biggest copper mining area in the world.

Last October, in a bid to plant the seeds of a viable economy where right now there is none, the Afghan government put exploration and exploitation rights to the Aynak deposit out to international tender.

According to the Afghanistan Geological Survey and the British Geological Survey, the Aynak copper deposit, located about 35 kilometres south of Kabul, consists of 240 million tons of material with a grade of 2.3% copper in the central portion of the deposit.

But this is no mere building of a copper mine.

International forces, including Canada, continue to battle Taliban insurgents.

As guerrilla tactics like suicide bombings, roadside bombs and kidnappings become the backbone of the insurgency, the country seems a more dangerous place than ever.

Troops are stretched so thin battling a renewed insurgency that little progress has been made in the way of development in Afghanistan.

"One of the major problems is security in the south," says Asif Rahimi, deputy minister of rural rehabilitation and development, an official who used to live in Ottawa before returning to work in his native Afghanistan.

Any attempt at economic or social development is targeted by insurgents, he says.

"Whatever is a sign of development, whatever is a sign of government presence, whatever is a sign of the international community's presence, of course the insurgents target them and try to make sure they fail and are destroyed," Rahimi says.

It's a vicious cycle to break, he suggests, but one that must be broken.

"People say there's no development without security and there's no security without development," says Rahimi.

"We believe both of them have to move together. You need a minimum level of security before development can take place."

Rahimi estimates that in 2005, 10 per cent of the country was "problematic." Today, he says about 30 per cent of Afghanistan is "off-limits to international organizations and government
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## geo (23 Sep 2007)

well, for a country to have a standing chance of surviving, they need the basis for survival.
They need to provide economic oportunities for their people.

The afghans are a suspicious lot though.  They will look at this and come to the conclusion that foreigners are coming to loot their country of it's wealth.


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## retiredgrunt45 (23 Sep 2007)

I agree, not to mention the serious security factors in opeing up such a venture in a place like this. He may have to form his own small army first to ensure the saftey of the operation.


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## GAP (23 Sep 2007)

retiredgrunt45 said:
			
		

> I agree, not to mention the serious security factors in opeing up such a venture in a place like this. He may have to form his own small army first to ensure the saftey of the operation.



Well, according to the newscasts, Blackwater is anticipated to have a few spare people.....  ;D


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## c_canuk (24 Sep 2007)

geo said:
			
		

> The afghans are a suspicious lot though.  They will look at this and come to the conclusion that foreigners are coming to loot their country of it's wealth.



Heh, not to mention the wackaloon leftist fringe... their chant will cease to be "No blood for oil" and become "No blood for copper!"


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## Mortar guy (24 Sep 2007)

I think this is a good thing. Our policy towards Afghanistan cannot be limited to our military contribution and the moderately effective efforts of CIDA. Canadian companies should be encouraged to invest in Afghanistan as the best counter to an insurgency is steady, well paying jobs.

While I was on the SAT I had some insight into the Mines and Resources program of the Afghan Government. Projects such as this copper mine (and iron and coal mines) offer a real opportunity for the GIRA to generate revenue through taxes and royalties while providing thousands of jobs to Afghans. While security is a concern, Logar province is relatively stable and a high profile project like this would no doubt get the protection it needs.

MG


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