The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum says four companies have won contracts for mining nephrite in eastern Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. The mines are located the Khas Kunar and Goshta districts. Of 26 mining and processing companies that participated in the bidding, four firms won the contracts. The Bahirmal Company offered 1.6 million afghanis per tonne, Royal Mining 1.5 million afs, Jwang Buti 700,000 afs and Afghan Mining 520,000 afs. The four were declared the winners.(20220118)

Nephrite is a hard and precious stone that is used in sculpting statues and making a variety of ornaments.