The Taliban are sitting on $1 trillion worth of minerals the world desperately needs
London (CNN Business)The swift fall of Afghanistan to Taliban fighters has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with thousands trying to flee the country. It’s also brought renewed focus on Afghanistan’s vast untapped mineral wealth, resources that could transform its economic prospects if ever developed.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest nations in the world. But in 2010, US military officials and geologists revealed that the country, which lies at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, was sitting on mineral deposits worth nearly $1 trillion.
Supplies of minerals such as iron, copper and gold are scattered across provinces. There are also rare earth minerals and, perhaps most importantly, what could be one of the world’s biggest deposits of lithium — an essential but scarce component in rechargeable batteries and other technologies vital to tackling the climate crisis.
consent manufacturing machine go brrr pic.twitter.com/k2kz1Bv6zn
— jordan (@JordanUhl) August 18, 2021
h/t Bojangles