This report was prepared with the financial gtz: DRAFT Searching for the way forward of the Mines Survey Directorate of AGS Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Mines. Sustainable Development of Natural Resources Project (IDA Grant H238-AF) Component — Capacity Building in the Afghanistan Geological Survey ‘Submitted by Gesellschaft far Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) in association with Projekt-Consult Project ID - MoM PMU 10 Kabul, 22" March 2009 assistance of the World Bank. The views expressed herein are those of the Lead Facilitating Partner and do not represent any official view of the World Bank. “Sustainable Development of Natural Resources Project (SONRP) ‘Component: Capacity Building in the Afghanistan Geological Survey1. 3. 4, TRAINING OPTIONS.. ‘Sustainable Development of Natural Resources Project (SDNRP) Component: Capacity Building in the Afghanistan Geological Survey eo a ©gtz: 1. Introduction After two years of successful staff training and cooperation with the Mines Survey Directorate of the Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS), the GTZ-IS/Projekt-Consult consortium was asked by the World Bank in December 2009 to develop guidelines and suggestions for future effective training and cooperation programs with AGS .The consortium submitted an outline of key suggestions to the World Bank later that month, and has since been developing a more detailed proposal regarding its future role as the technical trainer of the AGS, in support of the Minister of Mine's wish to clarify the mission of the AGS. As part of this GTZ mission, it is anticipated that a planning workshop will take place within the AGS in early April, 2010. This paper is conceived only to stimulate discussions during the upcoming planning workshop. In the search for the way forward for the AGS, it is hoped that the workshop participants will freely discuss these proposals, and reject, change or accept the ideas contained herein, ultimately finding a direction that reflects the realities of the AGS today, and their own vision for the future. ‘Sust ‘able Development of Natural Resources Project (SDNRP) Component: Capacity Building in the Afghanistan Geological Survey—— gtz 2 Background The AGS has a statutory basis and is part of the Ministry of Mines. Its scope of work is defined by the Minerals Law (2005) as the national geoscience body responsible for ‘conducting geological studies and research. These research functions of AGS are designed to open doors for private investment in the sector and are in support of national economic development In 2006, the Priority Reform and Restructuring (PRR) proposal assumed that a reformed AGS would shift its focus from detailed exploration to collection of regional scientific and technical information and wide dissemination of this information, reflecting the mandates of modem geological surveys around the world, Two years ago, at the start of the project “Capacity Building in the Afghanistan Geological Survey" the GTZ/Projekt Consult consortium agreed that AGS should exactly pursue the PRR focus and only fulfil an informational role, providing mining companies with regional geosciences information such as geological maps and research reports as the base for mineral exploration activities of the industry. During the past 2 years however, the GTZ/Projekt Consult consortium has somewhat revised its understanding of the appropriate role of the AGS, reflecting both the volatile security situation in Afghanistan, (which hardly attracts investment in mineral exploration and development to some extent,) and a more realistic understanding of the capacity and the internal structure of the AGS. Today the consortium believes that AGS should conduct regional exploration work to delineate exploration targets that reflect national and global ‘commodity demand and mining economics. The aim of these activities should be (1) to establish up-to-date mineral resource information in Afghanistan and (2) to generate economically interesting mineral targets which would attract national and international investors once peace in Afghanistan has been achieved. In such a way, the activities of AGS would temporarily fill the role of the missing exploration activities and mineral development by the international mining industry. It is thought that successful identification of mineral deposits could be the financial comerstone of a business model for the AGS that would ensure its future financial sustainability, providing salary incentives to staff that reward excellence in the workplace, consistent with the PRR objectives. “Sustainable Dovelopment of Naural Resouces Prowl ONRE) SS Component: Capacity Bulting nthe Algharistan Geological Survey“gee. gtz 3.___ Anew role for AGS Mines Survey Directorate Reorganization and renaming of Mines Survey Directorate Presently, the Mines Survey Directorate comprises two departments which are working in the area of mineral resources~the Solid Mineral General Department and the Geo-Mapping General Department. However, in order to fulfil the role of a mineral exploration entity the Mines Survey Directorate of AGS (particularly the Solid Minerals General Department and the Geo-Mapping General Department) should be modestly reorganized to reflect its new role. Also, the term "Mines Survey Directorate’ should be changed to “Economic Geology Directorate’ or “Mineral Resource Directorate.” The Solid Mineral General Department is organized in different teams such as: Y Mineral Metal Team Y Coal Team Y Gemstone team Y Decorative and Construction Stones Team Industrial Minerals Team ‘The Geo-Mapping General Department is organized in two teams Y General Mapping Y Local mapping Currently, both the Solid Mineral and Geo-Mapping General Department field teams are conducting relatively detailed “resource assessment” based on a one-commodity approach searching for coal, iron, phosphate etc. This style of work is appropriate for follow-up exploration where the mineral resource has already been shown to be potentially economic and needs to be quantified in more detail through pitting, trenching and even initial drilling. However, in cases where the target has not been shown to be present in economic quantities such detailed mapping is clearly inappropriate, above all because it is time consuming. A further problem with "resource assessment’ is that the larger metallogenic picture is often ignored. Therefore, the consortium recommends that the Solid Mineral and Geo-Mapping teams should commence to conduct “regional mineral resource assessment” at a scale of 100 000 (and in some instances at a scale of 1:50 000), combining remote sensi regional geological mapping and geochemical surveys at a regional Scale. This method places the mineral deposits/occurrences in the context of geological environment and structural situation. Applied properly, such integrated knowledge can be used to predict new mineral target areas for more focused studies where the detailed “resource assessment" mapping methods become appropriate. To achieve shift to new “regional mineral resource assessment’ mapping methods, the consortium proposes that the teams in the Solid Mineral and Geo-Mapping General Department should be reformed into 8 to 10) “integrated mineral resource assessment teams” which are composed of both mapping and mineral assessment geologists as well as geochemists. The integrated teams should be comprised of about 10 people and be headed by experienced younger geologist. The role of the older, current team leaders should be converted into distinguished mentors who would support, but not direct, the field teams. Sustainable Development of Natural Resources Project (SONRP) Component: Capacity Building in the Afghanistan Geological Survey