MES AYNAK, Afghanistan - It was another day on the rocky hillside, as archaeologists and laborers dug out statues of Buddha and excavated a sprawling 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery.

The agreement could start with copper mining at Mes Aynak, a direct rebuttal to the Chinese. Cooperation might then expand to sites with lithium, iron, rare earth elements, gold, lapis lazulis ...

In Afghanistan, a planned Chinese mine at the site of the world’s second largest deposit of copper is threatening an ancient Buddhist settlement including the remains of a 100-acre monastery.

MES AYNAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - China and Afghanistan remain deadlocked over a stalled $3 billion copper mine five months after Beijing demanded royalties be slashed by almost a half ...

Treasures from Afghanistan’s largely forgotten Buddhist past are buried beneath sandy hills surrounding the ancient Silk Road town of Mes Aynak — along with enough copper to make the land glow ...

Chinese firms, with Beijing backing, have sought to pursue opportunities in exploiting Afghanistan’s vast, undeveloped resource deposits, especially the Mes Aynak mine that is believed to hold ...

The Mes Aynak copper mines, located in Logar province of Afghanistan, are believed to have untapped copper deposits to the tune of $50 billion.

After 16 years of delays, Chinese engineers and the Taliban government officially started work at Mes Aynak, a massive project in Afghanistan to mine the world's second-largest deposit of copper ...

On Nov. 3, Afghanistan’s Tolo News announced that the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum was in talks with the Chinese company about starting operations at Mes Aynak.