With all the diaries and comments about Afghanistan that I’ve read over the last few days, I haven’t noticed this information being dug up and processed anywhere. I don’t have any special knowledge about it other than a recollection of the facts of it, which I encountered a few years ago, and this 1-½ year-old story that an online search turned up from a source I’d never heard of before. I know nothing about the credibility of the publisher; I’m just putting it out there and skedaddling.
thediplomat.com/...
Afghanistan has vast reserves of gold, platinum, silver, copper, iron, chromite, lithium, uranium, and aluminium. The country’s high-quality emeralds, rubies, sapphires, turquoise, and lapis lazuli have long charmed the gemstone market. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), through its extensive scientific research of minerals, concluded that Afghanistan may hold 60 million metric tons of copper, 2.2 billion tons of iron ore, 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements (REEs) such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and veins of aluminium, gold, silver, zinc, mercury, and lithium. According to Pentagon officials, their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large as those of Bolivia, which has the world’s largest known lithium reserves. The USGS estimates the Khanneshin deposits in Helmand province will yield 1.1.-1.4 million metric tons of REEs. Some reports estimate Afghanistan REE resources are among the largest on earth.
In other words, maybe there was some backroom thinking behind all that attempted nation building, such as creating a stable government in a country that would then be favorable to inviting in multinational corporations with an eye toward exploiting those $trillions in resources.
Or maybe I’m just a cynic.
I usually don’t care to poke my head up above the comment section, but this seems like it might have the right ingredients to spice up the conversational stew. Now talk amongst yourselves.