Large natural gas deposits in northern Afghanistan
were exploited jointly with the USSR starting in 1967. In the 1980s large
quantities of natural gas were exported to the USSR, but that was
terminated after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. Oil has been found to the
north of the Hindu Kush in large reserves but it is unexploited, primarily
because of war. Afghanistan is the world's only source of high-grade lapis
lazuli and has major copper and iron deposits. However, most resources
have not been exploited.
