Afghan villagers turn to gold-panning to sustain livelihoods

In the rugged Hindu Kush mountains of eastern Afghanistan, hundreds of men scour the rocky Kunar riverbed for precious gold dust, creating a livelihood amid limited economic options.

Against the backdrop of towering peaks, some still snow-capped in April, workers labour near the Pakistan border, seeking valuable flecks that could change their fortunes in a country plagued by low wages.

Near Kharwalu village in Kunar province – with its mud-brick homes and terraced wheat fields – men excavate dry sections of the riverbed before washing their rocky hauls with river water.

Delawar, 45, joined these gold prospectors after leaving his construction job seven hours from his Kabul home.

“There are not many job opportunities in the country, and in this way, we have created work for ourselves,” said the father of eight who uses only one name.

“The gold nuggets we find are usually smaller than a grain of wheat,” he added.

In nearby Ghaziabad, hundreds chip away at the mountainside with picks, carrying heavy sacks down steep slopes to empty onto sieves for gold filtration.

Others use yellow jerrycans attached to long wooden handles to pour river water over sieves, allowing smaller, potentially gold-bearing stones to slide onto mats. After two additional siftings, gold nuggets occasionally appear in metal pans.

Gul Ahmad Jan, 35, claims the work can be lucrative.

“We can get up to about 1gm of gold,” worth approximately 8,000 Afghani ($125) in just one week, he said.

Afghanistan’s natural resources remained largely unexploited during decades of conflict, though a Kunar official told the AFP news agency that gold panning has occurred there for more than 10 years.