Afghan Ministry of Mines stated that the Afghan government extended the deadline for bids for Hajigak iron ore deposit located 130 km west of Kabul by a month to September 4 at the request of companies interested in the project.
The Hajigak project has deposits of two billion mt with an estimated worth of $350 billion and is described by the Afghan government as Asia's largest untapped iron ore deposit.
Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said that 17 companies, mostly from India, interested in developing the deposits now have until September 4 to submit their bids.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Tata Steel, with other major Indian steelmakers JSW, Jindal Steel, SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) formed a consortium to bid for the Hajigak iron ore deposits in Afghanistan.