PESHAWAR, May 2: Leasing ownership documents for 10 years of the emerald mines near village Ghari Khazana Shamozai, Swat district, has been formally handed over to the successful bidder at the office of director-general, mines, here on Thursday.

The NWFP Minister for Industries and Manpower, Mohsin Aziz; Secretary Industries, Abdul Ghaffar Soomro; Director-General, Mines, Syed Khalid Hussain; representatives of Gemstone Association and relevant authorities were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Aziz called upon the local as well as foreign entrepreneurs to take maximum benefits provided by the government in mineral exploitation and other industrial sectors in the province.

“Private sector has a lot of capabilities to utilize the mineral wealth of the NWFP and the government would leave no stone unturned to encourage them by providing maximum facilities, including a waiver of taxes and duty-free import of heavy machinery,” he said.

“This is an age of satellite research, specially in geological and mineral resources on earth, and private sector could avail such opportunities by hiring and utilizing services of developed countries in satellite service of various regions of the world,” the minister maintained.

The director-general, mines, informed the participants that five companies had shown their interest in the mines and, after open bidding, the National Gem and Mining, Swat, emerged successful with a highest bid of Rs30.1 million.