Mes Aynak, in Afghanistan's Logar Province, boasts one of the
largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world. But it is also
home to vast archeological ruins, including 5th century Buddhist
monasteries and even older Bronze Age settlements.
Preservationists -- working furiously to excavate the nearby
ruins before they are buried under mining rubble -- have urged
restraint in developing the copper deposits. But those focused
on Afghanistan's economic development have urged the country to
move full speed ahead, citing the dire need for the $1 trillion
in revenue that the mine could bring to the impoverished
country. Is the potential for economic growth worth more than
the loss of cultural heritage? Professor Brent E. Huffman, a
documentary filmmaker and assistant professor at the Medill
School of Journalism at Northwestern University who has been
making a film at Mes Aynak, says there is little hope that much
will be saved when the mining begins in earnest. Here, we take a
an inside look at the 2,000 year-old