Posted on 09/06/2014 12:47:15 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Despite being one of the poorest nations in the world, Afghanistan may be sitting on one of the richest troves of minerals in the world, valued at nearly $1 trillion, according to U.S. scientists.
Afghanistan, a country nearly the size of Texas, is loaded with minerals deposited by the violent collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began inspecting what mineral resources Afghanistan had after U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from power in the country in 2004. As it turns out, the Afghanistan Geological Survey staff had kept Soviet geological maps and reports up to 50 years old or more that hinted at a geological gold mine.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
ISIS is on their way. They will change name to ISA.
They already have liquid gold: opium.
Not surprising,, the stresses and strains of continents colliding pay no attention to ideology or bias.
The Afghani controllers will do little to dig for it is my hunch.
They prefer to blow stuff up.
Mygosh, there was a “conspiracy theory” that the fascination with turning Afghanistan into a US close friend had to do with untapped natural resources.
If only. We’re just giving it to the ChiComs.
Now it’s China’s turn.
Now it’s China’s turn.
The Afghani people should forfeit these resources to the victims their state-sponsored terrorism has killed. We should make sure that the Muslim savages aren’t able to finance terrorism, but with people like Hussein Soetoro and Rand Paul calling the shots, we’ll make waste of a good opportunity.
Imagine that. Afghanistan is rich in gemstones as well. Too bad the people are so attached to their Religion of Bullies to pull themselves together into a democracy. They could have a wonderful country. But noooooo, Allah wouldn't like it.
And then Obama and the US media will refer to them as ISAL.
Topographically, geographically, demographically, politically, spiritually, there is a reason that they call Afghanistan the place where empires go to die.
Put those lazy camel jockeys to work then. Sheesh.
Right now they could make a fortune on Eco tourism. One of the most beautiful countries I’ve been to.
Should put a dent in the compensation due to families of 9-11 victims, and to our wounded warriors.
“they could make a fortune on Eco tourism. One of the most beautiful countries I’ve been to.”
Before the Communist-supported coup in 1973, Afghanistan was a great place for tourism - Lots of Germans hiking the mountains, British adventurers on driving tours, and American hippies smoking potent hashish so cheap they could buy it in fist-sized chunks.
Over thirty percent of the country was forested (reduced to 3% when the Russians withdrew) and much of that was rich with fruit and nut trees, descended from the plantations of countless past generations. Kabul was called “the City of Gardens”. It was rich agriculturally, but most of that was destroyed. It has been coming back gradually, as Afghans still have a culture of planting and cultivating, but it is still a shadow of its former abundance.
Until there is security, no one will benefit from the mineral wealth.
Once there is security, corrupt politicians will likely give it away for fast payoffs, and out of ignorance of how the industry works.
China will be worming their way in with many sophisticated strategies, like they did in Mongolia and Africa, to exploit their minerals.
So the Afghan Government needs to prepare for opening their mining industry by developing their human capital and finding good advice to get smart on the business. The Russians were actually training lots of Afghans for Mining before they withdrew.
Afghanistan should institute some careful controls on the licensing process, before the rush is on. Mining is the biggest and fastest thing that could raise Afghanistan’s GDP, beyond establishing security.
This has been reported in one way or another for years.
Are there any questions why we stayed there, trying to get them to like us?
It is all about the terrorists isn’t it?
It sickens me.
China is mining now in Chile with deals in Ecuador.....
Oh please. What a stupid study. For political purposes not doubt.
There are a lot of mineral resources in most every country.
Why did they just study A.?
Mexico has everything the United States does in mineral wealth. They however have a very corrupt government. Afghanistan is in worse shape for a stable gov’t.
The democrats are trying to emulate Mexico. Bribes for the insiders. Politicians anywhere on earth have kept mankind from moving ahead.
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