Sacred Sites, Buddhist and others...in the News

There is a place in Afghanistan where hundreds  of Buddha statues stud the streets of an ancient city. Near it, or under it, I suppose, is copper. Enough copper to bring Afghanistan out if the financial ruin it has been in for years. The site is believed to be the largest copper mine in the world and if the salvage of the city is not done beforehand, more Buddhist history will be lost. 

Mes Aynak, which translates into "little copper well" is located approximately 40 kms from Kabul, Afghanistan and contains the worlds second largest copper deposit, the first being in Largest Copper Hostile Takeover . 
Amongst the statues and relics is a 100 acre monastery complex, with various buildings and out buildings. 
In 2007, Afghanistan and China entered into a 30 year lease contract for 30 Billion dollars, which sparked an intense outpouring from Buddhists far and wide, comparing the devastation to that of the Taliban's devastation of the world's tallest statue of Buddha, measuring 53 meters tall, in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. They managed to stop the mining until Dec 12/12, this date has come and gone and they are still unearthing thousands of relics and ancient art pieces. As of this month, March 2013, they are still working the site.