June 13, 2010: WASHINGTON — United States discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan. Previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of most important mining centers in world, United States officials believe. Afghanistan could become “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” key raw material in manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys. Scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed. While it could take years to develop mining industry, executives in industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war. Value of mineral deposits dwarfs size of Afghanistan’s existing economy, based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is about $12 billion. Mineral discoveries will have double-edged impact. Instead of bringing peace, mineral wealth could lead Taliban to battle to regain control of country. Corruption in Karzai government could be amplified by new wealth, particularly if handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to president, gain control of resources. Endless fights could erupt between central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. American officials fear resource hungry China will try to dominate development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which could upset United States, given its heavy investment in region. After winning bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more. With no mining industry in place today, it will take decades for Afghanistan to exploit mineral wealth. Mineral deposits are scattered throughout country, including southern and eastern regions along border with Pakistan that have had some of most intense combat in American war against Taliban insurgency. International accounting firms having expertise in mining contracts have been hired to consult with Afghan Ministry of Mines, and data is being prepared to turn over to multinational mining companies and other potential foreign investors. Pentagon is helping Afghan officials to start seeking bids on mineral rights by next fall. In 2004, American geologists, stumbled across series of old charts and data at library of Afghan Geological Survey in Kabul that hinted at major mineral deposits in country. They learned data had been collected by Soviet mining experts during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1980s. During 1990s, when Afghanistan was mired in civil war and later ruled by Taliban, small group of Afghan geologists protected charts by taking them home, and returned them to Geological Survey’s library after American invasion and ouster of Taliban in 2001. Armed with Russian charts, United States Geological Survey began aerial surveys of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in 2006, using advanced gravity and magnetic measuring equipment attached to Navy Orion P-3 aircraft that flew over 70 percent of country. In 2007, geologists returned for sophisticated study, using British bomber equipped with instruments that offered three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below earth’s surface. American geologists who pored over new data said results were astonishing. For two years, result were ignored by officials in both American and Afghan governments. In 2009, Pentagon task force that created business development programs in Iraq was transferred to Afghanistan, and came upon geological data. Biggest mineral deposits discovered are iron and copper, quantities large enough to make Afghanistan major world producer of both. Other finds include large deposits of niobium, soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan. American geologists working with Pentagon team have been conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan where they believe there are large deposits of lithium. Pentagon officials said initial analysis at one location in Ghazni Province showed potential for lithium deposits as large as those of Bolivia, which now has world’s largest known lithium reserves. In addition to known oil reserves, this is another reason Wealthy American Capitalist may have wanted to invade Middle East.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 04:43:46 +0000
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