[Many of us have pondered long and hard as to why the U.S. should imagine it needs to be there.  It's a reason, but in view of the location, not nearly good enough--JAW]

The $1trillion jackpot: U.S. discovers vast natural deposits of gold, iron, copper and lithium in Afghanistan

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 3:38 PM on 14th June 2010

American geologists have discovered nearly $1trillion (£820billion) in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan - enough to turn a country scarred by decades of war into one of the world’s most lucrative mining centres.
Iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals such as lithium have been found in quantities bigger than previously thought, according to senior U.S. officials.
A Pentagon memo claims Afghanistan could become the ‘Saudi Arabia of lithium’, a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and mobile phones.

Stunning potential: Afghanistan has nearly $1trillion in untouched mineral deposits including lithium

‘There is stunning potential here,’ General David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said. 
‘There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.’
The U.S. Geological Survey began aerial surveys of Afghanistan's mineral resources in 2006, using data that had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. 
Promising results led to a more sophisticated study the next year.
Last year, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programmes in Iraq arrived in Afghanistan and closely analysed the geologists' findings. 

U.S. mining experts were brought in to validate the survey's conclusions. Top U.S. and Afghan officials have been briefed.
So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, but finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, as well as rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.
Afghanistan does not have any mining industry or infrastructure, so it will take decades for the country to exploit its mineral wealth fully, the paper quoted U.S. officials as saying.

The report about the country's untapped wealth is likely to intensify competition among regional players such as China, India and even Russia for a greater role in exploiting those resources.
Two Chinese firms have committed themselves to a $4billion investment in the vast Aynak copper mine, south of Kabul, the biggest non-military foreign investment so far in the country.
Another big contract to mine an estimated 1.8billion tonnes of high-quality iron ore in the remote mountainous region of Hajigak is expected to open for international bidding this year.
Firms from India and China are eyeing the contract, which the Afghan mines ministry says is the largest unmined iron deposit in Asia.
According to the U.S. study, the biggest deposits discovered so far are of iron and copper and the quantities are large enough to make Afghanistan a major world producer.
Other finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1286464/US-discovers-natural-desposits-gold-iron-copper-lithium-Afghanistan.html#ixzz0qqLm8wop