’)Afghanistan: The Saudi Arabia of Lithium
Jennifer Hanger
The news came as a complete shock to the general population. Pentagon officials and American geologists making a “recent” discovery of an estimated $1 trillion dollars in minerals. The deposits included copper, lithium, iron, cobalt, gold and important industrial metals. Some estimated the discovery of a lifetime at a more realistic $3 trillion. It’s been rumored Afghan officials are already prepping for a fierce bidding war amongst global mining companies.For years there has been speculation that Afghanistan housed an array of rare, precious, and expensive minerals. The questions everyone should now be asking is how long did the U.S know about these mineral deposits, who will benefit from this discovery, and could this be the ulterior motive for the war.
In a PBS interview NY Times reporter James Risen is questioned about the unearthing. He claims that the interest in Afghan minerals was really sparked when officials “stumbled” upon geological Soviet reports that described these minerals. Mr. Risen continues to use the word stumble several more times assuming his viewers must be ignorant drones. People don’t even stumble upon a map of a $3 trillion treasure chest in the movies. It’s simply to unrealistic.
Apparently though the Chinese did their homework. In December 2007 MCC signed Afghanistan’s largest contract ever to have access to billions of dollars in copper from the Aynak deposit. In addition they will be building a railway system and providing income to several thousand people. The only problem is Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. The workers will slave away for pennies till China’s population of 1 billion uses all the resources. It’s almost humorous how the U.S does all the fighting than China nonchalantly scoops up the contract of a lifetime. We’ll they did buy up all our debt so we do owe them one. Regardless it will be very interesting to see what will become of Afghanistan in the future.