Afghan mineral deposits worth up to $3 trillion

KABUL - Initial discoveries of untapped mineral deposits in poverty-stricken Afghanistan are “worth up to three trillion dollars”, the country’s mines minister said Thursday.

The government tally came three days after US officials put their estimate of the value of the country’s reserves of iron, copper, cobalt and gold at at least one trillion dollars.

Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani said the US value of the Afghan resource wealth was a “very conservative estimate” and the Afghan evaluation was substantially more than that.

“Although it has not been confirmed yet and is subject to more exploration and drilling, the idea is that it could be up to three trillion (dollars),” Shahrani said.

“The scientists always use a very conservative approach to make sure that information will not be biased,” he said.

Shahrani said it had been known for decades that the country has vast mineral wealth but the details of the deposits were only revealed in a survey recently conducted by the US Geological Survey.

“Our key mineral deposits are huge,” he said, adding that there are vast reserves of the metal lithium, used to make batteries for electronics and produce medicines.

Some of the minerals are located in areas where the Taliban have a strong presence, a factor that could make the mines less attractive to foreign investors.

The mineral discoveries are also seen as potentially stoking the insurgency rather than bringing peace because the Taliban could fight more fiercely to regain control of the country and its newfound wealth.

The minister admitted that “still there are some challenges in terms of security in certain parts of the country” but expressed confidence that it was a short-term threat.

More than 120,000 foreign troops have been deployed in Afghanistan to battle an insurgency waged by the Taliban, which was ousted in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Economic analysts said that with the country’s current poor infrastructure, it would need years to develop its mining industry while also worrying that the newfound wealth could be lost to graft as Afghanistan is ranked among the two most corrupt states in the world.

“Our focus will be mainly to enhance our capacities to make sure that we will get the maximum economic benefit from this opportunity in the most efficient and transparent manner,” Shahrani insisted.

He said he hoped his country would attract foreign investment at a road show that his ministry would organise June 25 in London, to which more than 200 global organisations were invited.