Afghanistan’s Mineral Wealth Much More Than Previously Estimated
Waheed Omar, President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman
New surveys have revealed that the amount of mineral riches in Afghanistan are much more than previously estimated. The New York Times reported today that a new report from the American military and the United States Geological Survey states that nearly $1 trillion worth of untapped minerals such as deposits of iron, copper, gold, semi-precious gems, and valuable industrial metals like lithium and niobium are present in Afghanistan. Lithium is a raw material used in the manufacture of batteries for cell phones and laptops and niobium is a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel. According to the American officials, this could “fundamentally alter” the Afghan economy and transform the country into one of the “most important mining centers in the world.” Waheed Omar, President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman, called the report “the best news we have had over many years in Afghanistan.â€
June 14, 2010
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One Comment
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Reconstruction and Development
One Response
It will be good news if the Afghan people have total control over the assets of the country. So far there is little evidence to suggest that the main players are interested in anything other than getting rich off of Afghanistan at whatever cost. I predict the best case the Afghans can look forward to is that this will be a classic case of paying 1 cent in the dollar for the resource, while the US and China get richer. All in the name of helping the poor people of Afghanistan.
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