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| Afghanistan | |
| Game Changer - U.S. Discovers Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan | |
| 2010-06-14 | |
The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and Blackberries. The vast scale of Afghanistan's mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said. While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war. "There is stunning potential here," Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. "There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant." The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan's existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan's gross domestic product is only about $12 billion. "This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy," said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines. | |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #23 Actually it has been known for quite some time that these minerals are there. This is the first time that a detailed study has been done and it was done by the Pentagon as an anti-insurgent study to get the Afghani economy off opium production. The logistics are a nightmare though. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2010-06-14 21:08 |
| #22 Up untilthis report, Mindanao wasthe largest untapped mining area. Israel, China, and Spain have all tried to go in there and the muzzies, after all the money is dolled out, blow up the mines. I expect Afghanistan will be no different. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-06-14 19:28 |
| #21 If this is true we shouldn't have told them. They would have never figured it out for themselves in a million years and then we could leave them in the poverty they deserve. As for Americans and other Western powers attempting to exploit this wealth - good luck. It's gonna be a helluva a war. Let's have a study to determine if it would actually be more of a financially sound course of action to pull out altogether so we could stop bribing the Paks. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-06-14 13:40 |
| #20 Rail line, through one of the nastiest, most heavily-cragged sections of the Hindu Kush? I mean, the Chinese don't even have a decent highway along the Wakhan Corridor. It might be cheaper to just maintain their vile little sub-Saharan deals. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2010-06-14 13:11 |
| #19 Interesting development. International reaction will expose validity of the claim - especially the private sector interests.. |
| Posted by: CB 2010-06-14 12:53 |
| #18 I don't think it's a game changer at all. -For one, look at all the infrastructure you would have to build in the most remote area of the world. -You still have the world's most backward, violent, criminal, misogynistic, people living on top of these treasures. A people who in my opinion are proving themselves not worth saving. -Operational logistics will be extremely expensive financially and militarily. America has unexploited resources right here. With our partners Canada, vast resources off shore we haven't even explored. There is nothing in Afghanistan that will prove worth the effort. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2010-06-14 11:23 |
| #17 The Chinese already have mining rights to copper in the northern part of the country. Seems to me that the claim is a bit dubious since the Afghan minister who set up the agreement with China got sacked after he accepted $30M or so from the Chinese to sign the agreement. Personally, I'd be sorely tempted to tell the Chinese to go pound sand right after I told them that I was going to keep their money as compensation for attempting to bypass the Afghan government. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-06-14 10:33 |
| #16 Well, from the eco-nut point of view, mining of any kind is bad and destroys the environment, just so wealthy, racist Republicans can drive SUVs and drink bottled water and leave garbage all over the environmentalists' nature. This is why they have systematically blocked all oil, coal and natural gas development in the US, and try to make mining as difficult and expensive as possible. In other words, these dumbasses think that corn comes from cans. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-06-14 09:36 |
| #15 The Chinese already have mining rights to copper in the northern part of the country. And they will be first in line for the rest (see Iraq). |
| Posted by: ed 2010-06-14 07:34 |
| #14 critical industrial metals like lithium Let's get it into the water supply! Maybe it will calm them down a bit. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-06-14 07:34 |
| #13 If this turns out to be accurate why shouldn't we (NATO) force the Afghans to pay a substantial compensation to us. They ought to pay for 9/11 and the subsequent damage to the world economy, and they should of course pay back any aid they received since 2001. Any money that remains under Afghan control will just create another decadent, corrupt financier of islamofascist terror. If Afghanistan should turn into yet another Saudi abomination we would have truly lost the war. |
| Posted by: Slash de Medici9525 2010-06-14 07:22 |
| #12 The Chinese already have mining rights to copper in the northern part of the country. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-06-14 07:17 |
| #11 "Building a large mining industry will only provide them more targets closer to home." Isnt that the whole M.O. of the W.O.T.? Divide et Imperia |
| Posted by: Admiral Allan Ackbar 2010-06-14 06:40 |
| #10 If America leaves, it leaves a better place for future generations. Just as it always has when it shows the courage to go in and clean up a hell hole. Like Haiti? Hellholes are such for a reason. The, to us, beneficent aspects of American culture are exactly what Binny and Al Q hate. They enjoy living in the stone age. Building a large mining industry will only provide them more targets closer to home. When they change their minds, we can do business. We can afford to be patient. Get out now. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-06-14 05:06 |
| #9 Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," Don't let Evo Morales hear about this. He thinks that Bolivia is the king pin in lithium, so much so that he is sitting on the deposits that he has nationalized like a clucky hen and refusing to let foreign investors, especially western ones near the deposits. Speaking of hens, he might become so distracted the he might eat some chicken and go bald and turn gay, and then where would we be? |
| Posted by: tipper 2010-06-14 03:42 |
| #8 Chinese begin building a railroad to Afghanistan in 3, 2, 1 ... |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-06-14 02:32 |
| #7 Obama said so....so?????? |
| Posted by: Clineng Poodle6890 2010-06-14 01:34 |
| #6 I heard that US was out soon...at least Obama said so..:D |
| Posted by: Phosing Big Foot3926 2010-06-14 01:32 |
| #5 If America leaves, it leaves a better place for future generations. Just as it always has when it shows the courage to go in and clean up a hell hole. Karzai is the kind of leader who will see America as a key player, even though he hates Obama. He knows who will help him protect this treasure for Afghanistan better than anyone. |
| Posted by: wt 2010-06-14 01:06 |
| #4 "The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban insurgency." OK, now it would be fiscally reasonable to control the country and that money. Does "The Won" still think we should leave on a set date for the Chinese to pick up? Good info in the article, worth the read. |
| Posted by: tipover 2010-06-14 01:00 |
| #3 God put US there for a reason. Call me, I am under-employed and have experience. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-06-14 00:38 |
| #2 critical industrial metals like lithium God put this there for a reason, I'm sure. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-06-14 00:23 |
| #1 I would not be going ape$hit on this report yet. I would guess that there might be much surface manifestations of orebodies, but I would like to see some geophysics and bottom line diamond core drilling before everyone goes crazy with their calculators. Sweeping statements about mineral deposits are for speculators and suckers. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2010-06-14 00:13 |