Afghanistan: The Jabal al-Saraj cement plant project in Parwan province has completed 90% of initial exploration work, along with the drilling of 18 deep wells for mineral sampling, according to Tolo news.
The facility has been contracted between the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and a Qatari firm, and is valued at US$220m.
Mohammad Idris Anwari, the governor of Parwan, said "The contracting company has completed 90% of the exploration work within six months, ahead of schedule. We are hopeful that the remaining construction and technical work will be completed within two years."
The plant will initially produce 3000t/day (0.96Mt/yr) of cement, rising to 9000t/day (2.9Mt/yr) in later phases. The project will reportedly create 5000 jobs.
