U.S.: Afghanistan Sitting On $1T in Minerals
A team of U.S. geologists and Pentagon officials has discovered vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan, conceivably enough to turn the scarred and impoverished country into one of the world's most lucrative mining centers, The New York Times reports.
"There is stunning potential here," Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told the paper in a report published Monday. "There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant."
Americans discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium, according to the report. The Times quoted a Pentagon memo as saying Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and cell phones.
Afghanistan's Mineral Wealth
What Can the U.S. Gain from Afghanistan's Mineral Wealth?
Why Afghanistan's Lithium Discovery Excites Silicon Valley
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan
During a visit last month to Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his nation's untapped mineral deposits could be even higher - perhaps as much as $3 trillion.
The mineral resources are a "massive opportunity," Karzai said at a May 13 event with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
The report in the Times said the U.S. Geological Survey began aerial surveys of Afghanistan's mineral resources in 2006, using data that had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Promising results led to a more sophisticated study the next year.
Then last year, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq arrived in Afghanistan and closely analyzed the geologists' findings. U.S. mining experts were brought in to validate the survey's conclusions, and top U.S. and Afghan officials were briefed.
Waheed Omar, Karzai's spokesman, said at a news conference Monday that the USGS was "contracted by the Afghan government to do a survey, so this is basically an Afghan government initiative."
"I think it's very, very big news for the people of Afghanistan and that we hope will bring the Afghan people together for a cause that will benefit everyone," he said. "This is an economic interest that will benefit all Afghans and will benefit Afghanistan in the long run."
So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, but finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, as well as rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan, the report said.
Charles Kernot, a mining analyst with Evolution Securities Ltd. in London, said it typically takes three to five years to get a lithium mining operation up and running. Factors include how close the deposit is to power sources and other infrastructure and the size of the deposit.
And large lithium deposits may not mean an automatic windfall - given competition and the uncertainty of the market.
"Bolivia wants to expand its lithium mining operations dramatically over the next few years so there is a risk of oversupply if demand from electric cars does not meet expectations," Kernot said.
Ghazni Province, where the lithium deposits are reported to be, is a dangerous place, home to many Taliban.
AP "There is stunning potential here," Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told the paper in a report published Monday. "There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant."
Americans discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium, according to the report. The Times quoted a Pentagon memo as saying Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and cell phones.
Afghanistan's Mineral Wealth
What Can the U.S. Gain from Afghanistan's Mineral Wealth?
Why Afghanistan's Lithium Discovery Excites Silicon Valley
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan
During a visit last month to Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his nation's untapped mineral deposits could be even higher - perhaps as much as $3 trillion.
The mineral resources are a "massive opportunity," Karzai said at a May 13 event with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
The report in the Times said the U.S. Geological Survey began aerial surveys of Afghanistan's mineral resources in 2006, using data that had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Promising results led to a more sophisticated study the next year.
Then last year, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq arrived in Afghanistan and closely analyzed the geologists' findings. U.S. mining experts were brought in to validate the survey's conclusions, and top U.S. and Afghan officials were briefed.
Waheed Omar, Karzai's spokesman, said at a news conference Monday that the USGS was "contracted by the Afghan government to do a survey, so this is basically an Afghan government initiative."
"I think it's very, very big news for the people of Afghanistan and that we hope will bring the Afghan people together for a cause that will benefit everyone," he said. "This is an economic interest that will benefit all Afghans and will benefit Afghanistan in the long run."
So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, but finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, as well as rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan, the report said.
Charles Kernot, a mining analyst with Evolution Securities Ltd. in London, said it typically takes three to five years to get a lithium mining operation up and running. Factors include how close the deposit is to power sources and other infrastructure and the size of the deposit.
And large lithium deposits may not mean an automatic windfall - given competition and the uncertainty of the market.
"Bolivia wants to expand its lithium mining operations dramatically over the next few years so there is a risk of oversupply if demand from electric cars does not meet expectations," Kernot said.
Ghazni Province, where the lithium deposits are reported to be, is a dangerous place, home to many Taliban.
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They've been hoodwinked into spending a trillion dollars (mostly borrowed from Japan and red china) on the attack, invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Then, after a decent interval... comes the announcement that reminds one of Gomer Pyle.. "Shazam! Sergeant Carter! Lookie what was under this rock over here.. a trillion dollars that no-body knowed wuz there!"
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And who will get rich off that trillion dollar find? The Afghan people? Maybe... that depends on which nation develops the mines and market. The red chinese are already spending $3,000,000,000 on a railway line and a power plant to develop the largest copper ore deposit. The copper deposit that they outbid American companies for.
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Yessiirreee... While we phardted away a trillion dollars on steak and lobster for the Pentagon... the red chinese are teaching us a lesson about capitalism.
I just don't understand why the American public are so......lame, so quite, really ignorant on the facts...and so damn reliant on false religions to guide their way...
years. The country will be largely unchanged. Whatever potential
wealth exists will be eventually harvested to the benefit of the
Taliban and whichever sponsor signs up to do the heavy lifting for
them. Please, let's get out of the nation rebuilding business.
By the by, I'm happy for the Afghans to have this opportunity to develop some industry and create an infrastructure.
I wonder how all this ties in with radical Islamists. Maybe they won't to plant poppies any more.
The world is changing and the attitudes of nations and people are changing as well. When parts of the world have limited resources of key ingredients or nutrients and others have much, eventually push comes to shove UNLESS we can create a viable working relationship with collegial support instead of antagonism. Hopefully we will not resort to anything underhanded in our attempt to satisfy our needs.
There are literally 1,000's of things we have they might need, and now is a good time to converge into working relationships. Time will tell the course of our actions and desires, I just hope dollar signs do not become more important than signs of life and opportunity.