FP: On paper, at least, Beijing’s latest deal with the Taliban looks impressive: $10 billion for access to lithium deposits, creating 120,000 direct jobs, plus some infrastructure building and repairs thrown in for good measure. But rather than underpinning hope for economic revival, this contract is likely to join other Chinese ventures in Afghanistan that
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS April 22, 2023 China will face stiff technical, geological, logistical, and market challenges in trying to extract lithium profitably from Afghanistan, in addition to the obvious security problems, primarily in the form of ISK terror attacks. However, Beijing is certainly not approaching the situation naïvely. In fact, China may be fully willing
Khaama: The Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said on Thursday that a Chinese Company, Gochin expressed its interest in investing $10 billion in Afghanistan’s lithium deposits. According to the statement, the acting minister for mine and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar, met with the Chinese company representatives in Kabul. Since the Taliban takeover of the country,
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 22, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have arrested five men, including two Chinese nationals, for allegedly trying to smuggle an estimated 1,000 metric tons of lithium-bearing rocks out of the country. The arrests and the seizure of the rocks were made in the eastern Afghan border city of Jalalabad.
8am: Speculations have mounted that China will seek dominance over Afghanistan’s mineral resources, particularly its lithium, gold and other rare-earth ore deposits, following the final US withdrawal from the country in August 2021. Local sources said on Thursday, January 12, that experts from two Chinese firms have visited Ghazni province for technical studies of lithium
LA Times: Jawed Noorani, an Afghan mining expert, estimated that the Taliban was collecting more than $1 billion a year in taxes on minerals. Mansfield said the regime has also doubled coal exports to Pakistan this year compared with the year before, taking advantage of a spike in prices because of the war in Ukraine.
Tolo News: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said Sunday that Chinese companies have been scouting ways to access Afghanistan’s lithium and copper mines. According to SIGAR’s tweet, “Afghanistan’s lithium deposits could be among the largest in the world, rivaling those of Bolivia.” Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The Financial Times recently reported that Afghanistan’s lithium reserves could compete with those of other countries. Lithium, like oil, is rapidly becoming a strategic product, said Elif Nuroglu, head of economics at the University of Turkey-Germany (TAU). Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Officials representing several Chinese companies are in Afghanistan to conduct on-site inspections of potential lithium projects, Reuters reported. Afghanistan is rich in resources ranging from copper, lead, zinc, gold, oil and gas, bauxite, coal, iron ore and rare earths. It also has large reserves of lithium, a key component used for the batteries of
Press TV December 10, 2018 The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and following occupation by the United States was largely to protect the country’s opium cultivation and exploit its vast mineral resources, particularly the deposits of lithium, according to James Henry Fetzer, an American academic who has been studying the events of 9/11 since late 2001.