Laghman is a province of eastern Afghanistan, lying north of the Kabul-Jalalabad axis and bordering Nuristan to the north. The province is one of several gem-producing regions in Afghanistan and is known principally for the pegmatite occurrences in the Mehterlam, Alishang and Alingar valleys, which produce tourmaline, kunzite, beryl, garnet and other species.

Geological setting

The Laghman pegmatites lie in the Hindu Kush metamorphic and pegmatitic belt that extends through northeastern Afghanistan and into adjacent Pakistan. The pegmatites intrude metamorphic country rock and have been mined for both lithium minerals (spodumene, including its kunzite gem variety) and gem species (tourmaline in red, pink, green and bicolour, beryl in pale blue aquamarine and rarely emerald, almandine and spessartine garnet, fluorite, smoky quartz). The Mehterlam and Alishang sectors have been the most productive.

Tourmaline from Laghman is generally regarded as comparable in quality to material from the better-known Nuristan deposits to the north, though the trade often groups all northeastern Afghan pegmatite tourmaline as Nuristan or Afghan without finer locality distinction. Pink and red tourmaline from the region is particularly valued, and bicolour and tricolour crystals appear regularly.

Mining and trade

Mining in Laghman has been largely artisanal, conducted by local and seasonal workers using hand tools and small-scale explosives in workings that follow individual pegmatite veins. The political and security situation in Afghanistan since the 1980s has made systematic exploration and large-scale operation impractical, and the trade has been disrupted repeatedly. Material reaches the international market principally through Peshawar in Pakistan, where Afghan and Pakistani dealers buy from miners and consolidate parcels for onward sale to Bangkok, Tucson and the major coloured-stone trading centres.

The Taliban administration's resumption of authority in 2021 has further complicated international trade in Afghan gem material, with sanctions and supply-chain documentation issues affecting normal commerce. Trade buyers should pay attention to provenance documentation and to the evolving regulatory framework when handling Afghan-origin material.

Trade significance

Laghman tourmaline and kunzite occupy a meaningful but secondary position in the global pegmatite-gem trade, behind the Brazilian, Mozambican, Nigerian, Madagascan and Pakistani sources. Quality at the high end can rival material from those better-known sources, and dealers familiar with Afghan rough recognise distinct stylistic markers in habit, colour and inclusion suite. For the consumer market, finished Afghan tourmaline and kunzite usually appears without specific origin attribution, since the laboratory origin determination for these species is not as developed as for ruby, sapphire or emerald.