A group of US geologists and Pentagon officials has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium, conceivably enough to alter the Afghan economy and to turn the scarred and impoverished country into one of the world's most lucrative mining centers, The New York Times has reported.
Accordingly, the US geology department and the Pentagon have indicated that the mineral deposits are found mainly in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, with the initial analysis showing the potential for deposits as large as those of Bolivia, which now has the world's largest known lithium reserves; however, the deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan.
The report said that, so far, the largest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, with quantities significant enough to make the country a major world producer of both. Other discoveries include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, as well as rare earth elements and large gold deposits in the Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.
Until now mining activity in Afghanistan has been centered on coal and copper with some gold, marble, rare earth and gem mining being carried out.
Reportedly, with billions of dollars at stake, the mineral discoveries are also likely to spark an international scramble for mining rights. China is already a major player, currently developing the world's largest copper mine south of the Afghan capital, Kabul.