(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) What if you could just pull money out of the ground?
That’s exactly what men are doing in the Hindu Kush mountains of eastern Afghanistan. They are scouring the rocky Kunar riverbed for flecks of gold.
Here in the U.S., people pan for gold for fun. However, these Afghan men aren’t enjoying a hobby. Hunting for gold is one of the few options they have to earn money and put food on their families’ tables.
Delawar, 45, is among the men searching for small flecks of gold. He has a family of eight to care for.
“There are not many job opportunities in the country, and in this way, we have created work for ourselves.”
It’s not easy work, and it isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. Prospectors dig dirt and rock from dry sections of the riverbed and wash it with river water.
An Al Jazeera report describes the grueling work required for a small amount of gold:
“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.”
All of this effort sometimes yields small flakes of gold. Delawar said they are usually smaller than a grain of wheat.
Even so, Gul Ahmad Jan told Al Jazeera that the work can be “lucrative.” He said that in a week, he can get up to about 1 gram of gold. That’s worth approximately 8,000 Afghan Afghani (AFN; ؋), or around $125 US Dollars (USD).
Five hundred dollars a month isn’t much by American standards, but it’s a lifeline for Afghans who have few employment opportunities.
This is possible because, fundamentally, gold is money. And people recognize it as such all over the world. No matter where you go, people recognize gold’s value.
Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.
