It’s the rare earth metals/minerals the Afghans are sitting on that has everybody taking a swing at extracting.
What would those rare earth metals/minerals be?
GOLD is unique in many ways. It never tarnishes, for one. I DOUBT that gold will be replaced with any other metal.
If the Afganis had gold it would already be a first world country. Maybe it's way, way, way, way down in their earth. It that case, the miners always measure the worth of the mineral with the time and risk of the miners.
So, let me know which rare earth minerals you are thinking of. I'll just walk into my kitchen and CHECK IT OUT. :o)
“It’s the rare earth metals/minerals the Afghans are sitting on that has everybody taking a swing at extracting.”
Exactly! It’s the Chinese who have brokered deals with whoever is seemingly in charge, (including the extreemly wealthy power brokers in the U.S.), for the ‘rights’ to those minerals.
Not too many years ago on a FR thread, there were a few of us speculating that the primary mission of western troops in Afghanistan was to bring just enough civility to that savage Stone Age country, to make it possible to start mining operations there. No country or *corporation* will invest the billions of dollars needed to set up such an operation while the country is still in the chaos of tribal war lords feuding with one another over decades long, or even century’s long disputes regarding whose cousin insulted the *prophet* by taking a wife from a neighboring village that doesn’t practice Islam the right way. But the speculation was/is that the Chinese are the ones who have dibs on the minerals, for multiple reasons.