Rare Earth minerals. Yahoo/Live Science.
Afghanistan may contain up to $1 trillion worth of rare earth minerals. Yahoo/Live Science. The minerals were deposited when the Indian sub continent collided with Asia. A 2006 survey showed that Afghanistan contains up to 60 million tons of copper, 2.2 billion tons of iron, and 1.4 million tons of rare earths. Surveyors are still trying to determine the exact amounts of resources but have been stymied by the terrible security situation. In addition to the security situation any attempts at mining would necessitate a complete revamp and expansion of Afghanistan's infrastructure.
My Comment:
This isn't exactly new news, but it is something I don't think most people are aware of. Unfortunately the article doesn't go into why rare earths are important. Wikipedia has an article up about the elements and why they are important. The short version is that these metals are very important for technology and computers. China absolutely dominates the market right now and it is considered a major security concern for the United States. Our military is dependent on these minerals and right now our main source for them is one of our geopolitical enemies. If Afghanistan could exploit these resources it would be a boon for America and the whole world. Not only would it bring down the costs it would be a market that, for the moment, is friendly to the United States... as long as you have a loose definition of friendly.
Too bad Afghanistan is completely dysfunctional. They haven't known peace in my lifetime and they lack even the most basic infrastructure. They are on the front lines of the global war on radical Islam and any attempt at mining these minerals will have to take into account the security situation. If Afghanistan had mines up an running they could just buy their way out of it, but as it stands right now I don't see how they extract these resources.
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