American geologists have discovered vast mineral reserves in Afghanistan, including copper and lithium, estimated to be worth several billion dollars. These deposits, which also include iron, gold, niobium, and cobalt, could be sufficient to transform the war-torn country into one of the world’s leading exporters of ores, according to officials from the U.S. administration.
Lithium reserves in Afghanistan could rival those in Bolivia, which are the largest in the world, writes the New York Times. Lithium is an essential component of rechargeable batteries used in mobile phones and laptops, as well as in electric vehicles. Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” according to an internal Pentagon memo cited by the New York Times. Similarly, iron and copper reserves could make Afghanistan one of the world’s major producers of these elements. The discovery was made by a small group of geologists and Pentagon officials relying on maps and data from mining experts during the Soviet occupation of the country in the 1980s. Afghan geologists had hidden these documents after the Soviet withdrawal, before revealing them again in 2001 after the fall of the Taliban. The Pentagon and American geologists subsequently conducted surveys using sophisticated methods and made astonishing discoveries. (www.novilist.hr)
