core sector communique

MINISTRY OF MINES OF AFGHANISTAN

OPENING OF BIDS FOR BADAKHSHAN (GOLD DEPOSIT)

The Government of Afghanistan, through the Ministry of Mines of Afghanistan (the “Ministry”), is pleased to announce that the submitted bids were opened yesterday for the exploration and subsequent exploitation of four licence areas at the Badakhshan gold project. The deadline for submission of bids for the Badakhshan mineral tender was 17 September 2012.

The opening of bids for the Badakhshan project is the final of a total of four openings relating to bids for the current mineral tenders, following the opening of bids for Balkhab on 24 July 2012, Shaida on 7 August 2012 and Zarkashan on 27 August 2012.

Summary of mineral tenders:

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

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

"The bids submitted for the exploration licence areas at Badakhshan 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.”

“The bid openings for the four current mineral tenders have now been completed and we look forward to selecting and announcing a preferred bidder for Badakhshan in the near term."

The tender process for each Project is expected to culminate in the granting of an exploration licence and, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, will lead to the granting of the requisite exploitation licence. Canaccord Genuity, SRK Consulting and Mayer Brown are acting as transaction advisers to the Ministry in relation to the tenders for the Projects. The tenders are designed as transparent, standards-based, competitive bidding processes which will result in the selection of the best qualified bidder for each Project.

Further information on the tender processes is available on the Ministry of Mines’ website (www.mom.gov.af or www.afghanmineraltenders.com). These include more detailed information on each Project and on infrastructure which is in proximity to the Projects.