The Taliban's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum inaugurated the extraction process of four large blocks of iron mine in the Ghourian district of Herat province on Thursday.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s spokesperson, said that USD 5.57 billion will be invested in this project.

Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in a statement wrote that the project was inaugurated in the presence of the group’s Minister of Mines Shahabuddin Delawar and Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the governor of Taliban in Herat.

According to the statement, the extraction contract of this project has been assigned to domestic and foreign companies.

In August, the Taliban signed contracts for seven mines with domestic and foreign companies worth USD 6.557 billion.

At that time, the Taliban announced that it had signed a contract for four Ghourian iron mining blocks with domestic and foreign companies, including British and Turkish firms.

Shahabuddin Delawar said that the extraction and processing of the project will be conducted inside Afghanistan. He expressed hope that the project will provide social services for the people of the region.

In August, the Taliban's Minister of Mines stated during the signing ceremony for seven mining contracts that these agreements had been under discussion for nearly two years.