Gem valley Panjshir, in the northeastern part of the country, is mined for emeralds.
Ohammad Qayem Zayee squats on the edge of the mountain, letting a plastic wrapper from his sponge cake catch the breeze and skitter away. Qayem, 26, doesn't usually stop for breaks during the two-hour trek up to his mine in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, but his feebler guests have to catch their breath. As they do so, Qayem, wearing a heavy five-o'clock shadow and an oversize fatigue jacket, ponders his chosen profession: emerald prospecting. "If we find something, we can make millions; if we don't, we keep working," he says, looking out over the deep valley to a ridge of...
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