Pierrepont Johnson III: Afghanistan has a unique opportunity, though one that comes with its own risks – the country’s $3 trillion worth of mining deposits. To date, efforts to harvest Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which exceeds the GDP of Great Britain, Italy, or India, have largely failed. The threat of the Taliban and extortion from militias,
Al Jazeera: Rich in copper, lithium, talc, marble, gold, uranium and others, Afghanistan’s vast mineral wealth is estimated to exceed one trillion dollars. But according to data, every year the government loses around $300m in revenue from mining. Poor security, the lack of proper legal framework and organisational capacity, as well as corruption, have prevented the development of the sector. Deficient
Khaleej Times: Afghanistan launched on Monday 43 tenders for natural resource projects as part of a global initiative to attract investment into its mineral sector that has assets estimated to be worth $1 trillion. Afghan Minister of Mines and Petroleum Nargis Nehan said 14 tenders would be opened for large-scale projects to international companies through a
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.
Press TV November 20, 2018 The United States has no plans to end the war in Afghanistan despite knowing full well that there is no military solution to the ongoing conflict in the country, says an American political commentator, arguing that America’s interests in the Asian country far outweigh the costs of war. Stephen Lendman,
WASHINGTON, August 1 (Sputnik) – The United States has not increased efforts to exploit Afghanistan’s mineral wealth since the White House unveiled the plan a year ago as a way to offset war costs, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report. “Nearly one year after the Trump administration made
Tolo News: Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on Monday said they have terminated the extraction contract of Herat’s Ghoryan salt mine signed with a private company two months ago following the discovery of minerals including lithium and uranium. The spokesman for the ministry of mines Abdul Qadir Mutfi said their recent studies showed that these minerals
Press TV March 24, 2018 Afghanistan says Iran has asked to extract iron ore from a mine in Herat but the two neighbors have yet to reach an agreement on where to process it. Iran wants to transfer the extracted materials to an ore processing plant on its soil across the border but Afghanistan is
William Gallo VOA News February 2, 2018 Afghanistan’s government is in advanced stages of negotiations with several U.S. companies interested in becoming involved with the country’s coal industry, a first step toward wider American investment in Afghanistan’s potentially lucrative industrial mining sector. The negotiations – confirmed to VOA by a senior Afghan diplomat and the
Mining Technology: The US administration is reportedly keen to develop Afghanistan’s extractive sector, having invested nearly $500m already. However, with rampant looting and occupation of mines by the Taliban and other insurgency groups, as well as corruption and stability concerns, some question the country’s readiness for foreign investment, as well the US administrations intentions. Click here