Afghanistan extended the deadline for seven Asian companies to submit final bids for the license to mine iron-ore at Hajigak, the nation’s largest deposit of the metal, by six weeks to Feb. 15, a Mines Ministry official said.

The earlier deadline of Dec. 30 was pushed back by the ministry at the request of one of the bidders, Hafizullah Afzaly said in a phone interview from Kabul today. Afzaly, who is receiving the bids at the ministry, declined to name the company that requested the delay.

The bidders include five Indian companies, a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Tuwairqi Group and the Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. In July, the ministry said it had approved applications from India’s Essar Minerals Ltd., Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd., Ispat Industries Ltd., JSW Steel Ltd. and Vedanta Resources Plc’s Sesa Goa Ltd.

The seven companies are competing for the license to mine what government surveys say are 1.8 billion tons of ore in the Hindu Kush mountains, 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Kabul, the capital. The ore contains 62 percent iron, the surveys show.