Ministry of Mines of Afghanistan: Opening of bids for Shaida

OPENING OF BIDS FOR SHAIDA (COPPER DEPOSIT)

The Government of Afghanistan, through the Ministry of Mines of Afghanistan (the “Ministry”), is pleased to announce that the submitted bids were opened today for the exploration and subsequent exploitation of a licence area at the Shaida copper project. The deadline for submission of bids for the Shaida mineral tender was 6 August 2012.

The opening of bids for a licence area at the Shaida project is the second of four openings relating to bids for the current mineral tenders, following the opening of bids for Balkhab on 24 July 2012.

Summary of mineral tenders:

Project	Province	Mineral type	Deposit type	Exploration Licence Area(s)
Badakhshan	Badakhshan	Gold	Quartz-vein	4 x 250km2
Zarkashan	Ghazni	Copper-gold	Skarn	2 x 242km2
Balkhab	Sar-I-Pul and Balkh	Copper	VMS	210 km2 and 247km2
Shaida	Herat	Copper	Porphyry	250km2

Commenting on today’s announcement, His Excellency Wahidullah Shahrani, Minister of Mines, said:

"The bids submitted for the exploration licence area at Shaida reflect the level of bidder interest evident throughout the tender process, which was launched in December 2011, as well as the continued international interest in the rich mineral resources of the country."

"We look forward to selecting and announcing a preferred bidder for Shaida in the near term."