Desert wanderers cash in on global scrap metal boom

When Zahir Ghambarie was forced to flee his village, torn apart by the bloody internal conflict in Afghanistan, the thought of collecting rubbish in a land 9,500 kilometres away would have seemed idyllic.

His decision to move halfway across the world as a 16-year-old — via New Zealand before arriving in Australia — was a roll of the dice that would eventually pay off in spades.

Now, the global scrap metal market is booming, and exporters are enjoying record prices.

The Pilbara alone is home to a plethora of mining operations that create a treasure-trove of scrap material…