Gary Bowersox is one of the most influential experts of precious resources of Afghanistan, a country that he started visiting in 1972. In spring 1991, he relied on his knowledge of the places to write, together with other authors, for Gems & Gemology, what remains one of the most extensive accounts on the promising features of emeralds coming from the Valley of Panjshir. When reading the pages dating back a quarter of a century you are impressed by the primitive conditions of that territory, about 100 km long, set among the mountains of Hindu Kush passes, which are over 4,000 metres high. Obviously, today long journeys on the back of a mule that could last various days are no longer necessary and Kabul can be reached with a new road. Basic infrastructures have improved to help the logistics of the transition towards a national government. However, the most updated information shows us that the presidency of Trump is deploying huge military troops after the gradual downsizing of the American commitment decided by his predecessor Obama. In fact, an increasing presence of Taliban resistance was evidenced, consisting in radical Islamic movements that, at the end of the last century, put an end to the long soviet occupation. The extremism of the Islamic state was followed by the American attack in 2001 and by the long period of military presence to stabilize the country. Before the disengagement of Washington, various entrepreneurs had shown an interest for the gems of Panjshir, encouraged by the strategy of Senior General David Mckiernan, then fired in 2009, by which the involvement of troops would have been necessary to help the country start its journey towards economic progress and generate income and mining employment.
The future of the emerald district is linked to the capacity of ensuring the political unity in a country that is a combination of ethnic groups and opposing interests. The launch of the Geological Survey, the most accurate mapping, and some infrastructure did not prove sufficient. In Panjshir the extraction is still carried out with primitive explosives that break the emerged crystals, cause fatal accidents and are a threat to the orographical integrity. Yet, today Gary Bowersox is even more convinced: over a three-year period, Panjshir, a country full of natural resources but with a GDP of only 10 billions in 2008, not considering the illegal export of opium, could earn 200 million US$ thanks to the potential connected to its emeralds. The near future could then have in store some surprises, obviously related to the outcomes of the conflict for the geopolitical control of the territory and of the whole country. The first geological survey of Afghan emeralds was made during the occupation in the 80s by Russian engineers. However, it was the income deriving from gems that financed the anti-soviet counterattack of the legendary Lion of the Panjshir, general Massoud, killed by his enemies in 2001. The mineralization area of emeralds in Panjshir, 20 km long and 3km wide, is located between the river Panjshir, its tributaries and the over 3,000 m mountain ranges run by numerous streams. The region marks a fault between two plates along which ultramafic rocks are trapped, a possible source of chrome carried by hydrothermal fluids that often characterise the inclusions of Afghan emeralds. These can have a three-phase elongated needle shape like in Colombian emeralds, though less pointed. The emerald crystals of Panjshir have even remarkable sizes and can be compared, as for attractiveness, to the Muzo ones.
Gem News by Trasparenze News, published on Rivista Italiana di Gemmologia #2, September 2017.
