Besides the Taliban, Lots of Minerals are ALSO Hiding in Afghanistan!!

In a discovery that could be either a really really good thing or a REALLY REALLY bad thing, US Pentagon officials and American geologists have confirmed reports that massive veins of previously unknown mineral deposits have been discovered all over Afghanistan.

(photo source: http://www.gems-afghan.com/8-symposium/images/fig2.jpg - Also, I'm not sure the date on this map, so it could be outdated by the latest findings. . .)

The deposits aren't just your run of the mill, weekend-miner's finds - they're large enough to have the ability to transform the country into one of the most important mining centers in the world. The largest quantities of specific minerals found were iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and critical industrial metals like lithium. (Lithium is used in tons of the electronic devices we gobble up over here - like blackberries and computer batteries.) There's so much lithium that a Pentagon memo stated Afghanistan could possible become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium."

(For everyone who hasn't been so lucky to see what raw lithium looks like, here it is. It's useful AND pretty oooooooooh!)

Afghanistan has most recently had to rely on opium production and narcotic trafficking, so the discovery of the minerals in the area carries with it the possibility of a safer, less politically harmful means of securing economic livelihood for the Afghan citizens.

(Picture source: http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/images-2/poppy-field.jpg - Opium poppy field in Afghanistan.) It's sorta beautiful. Too bad it's completely lethal :(

On the other hand, minerals, while not inherently harmful like narcotics, can be regulated and sold in ways that are just as harmful as drug production and trafficking: e.g. blood diamonds.

The dangerous thing about the discovery is Afghanistan's lack of strong central government to help regulate and protect the veins from fostering provincial skirmishes. China has also shown plenty of interest in previously known-of copper mines in the region near the Logar Province. Afghan officials have already been accused of accepting bribes from China for rights to the development of the area.

It could take years for a fledgling mining industry to develop in Afghanistan. In all probability, it will take years. Another concern is sustaining environmentally safe mining practices where no environmental regulations exist. The story has yet to unfold, but with the world's dependence on raw minerals, it will most certainly quickly begin to do so. Hopefully, in a country rife with civil unrest, the industry can develop without causing further damage to national and international relations. Hopefully, the minerals can do for Afghanistan what oil could have done for Iran.

-K

(A much more complete article is at the other end of this link ---> NYTimes.com - Check it out if you want more than just the summary. . .)