Loading ...Its sounding exactly like the end in Vietnam. Obviously its another failure by global westerners, to “modernize” the place and take advantage of all the natural resources.
June 16, 2010 Parts:
A recently unearthed 2007 United States Geological Service survey appears to have discovered nearly $1 trillion in mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself.
The 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 that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world. 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 BlackBerrys.
American officials also recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact in that, instead of bringing peace, the newfound mineral wealth could lead the Taliban to battle even more fiercely to regain control of the country.
American officials also fear that resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth which would upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said.
$1 trillion motherlode of lithium and gold discovered in Afghanistan