U.S. Finds Mineral Riches in Afghanistan

[Lite]

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.

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.

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.

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[myidisbb]

sadly the chinese are just going to bribe them and have the contract just like they did ealier. then the taliban band will have something to get forced protection money from

[shought]

Nah, the Americans knew about this all along, that's why they went there in the first place :P

(Kidding, of course...)

[myidisbb]

Nah, the Americans knew about this all along, that's why they went there in the first place :P

(Kidding, of course...)

the stuff found would explain why we dont see much trees and such growing

[Muhannad]

actually, yeah they already knew that

and one of the major things to attack Afghanistan is its nature there like oils, minerals and even to control the drug commercials and deals

and yeah i'm not kidding