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$1 Trillion Trove of Rare Minerals Revealed

Under Afghanistan
By Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | September 4, 2014 07:35am ET

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Rare Earths, clockwise from top center: praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium,
samarium and gadolinium.
Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture / Peggy Greb

Despite being one of the poorest nations in the world, Afghanistan may be sitting on one of the
richest troves of minerals in the world, valued at nearly $1 trillion, according to U.S. scientists.

Afghanistan, a country nearly the size of Texas, is loaded with minerals deposited by the violent
collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began
inspecting what mineral resources Afghanistan had after U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from
power in the country in 2004. As it turns out, the Afghanistan Geological Survey staff had kept
Soviet geological maps and reports up to 50 years old or more that hinted at a geological gold
mine.

In 2006, U.S. researchers flew airborne missions to conduct magnetic, gravity and hyperspectral
surveys over Afghanistan. The magnetic surveys probed for iron-bearing minerals up to 6 miles
(10 kilometers) below the surface, while the gravity surveys tried to identify sediment-filled
basins potentially rich in oil and gas. The hyperspectral survey looked at the spectrum of light
reflected off rocks to identify the light signatures unique to each mineral. More than 70 percent
of the country was mapped in just two months. [Facts About Rare Earth Minerals (Infographic)]

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The surveys verified all the major Soviet finds. Afghanistan may hold 60 million tons of copper,
2.2 billion tons of iron ore, 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and
neodymium, and lodes of aluminum, gold, silver, zinc, mercury and lithium. For instance, the
Khanneshin carbonatite deposit in Afghanistan's Helmand province is valued at $89 billion, full
as it is with rare earth elements.

"Afghanistan is a country that is very, very rich in mineral resources," Jack Medlin, a geologist
and program manager of the U.S. Geological Survey's Afghanistan project, told Live Science.
"We've identified the potential for at least 24 world-class mineral deposits." The scientists' work
was detailed in the Aug. 15 issue of the journal Science.

Afghanistan treasure maps

In 2010, the USGS data attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense's Task Force
for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO), which is entrusted with rebuilding Afghanistan.
The task force valued Afghanistan's mineral resources at $908 billion, while the Afghan
government's estimate is $3 trillion. [Gold Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Gold
Mining?]

Over the past four years, USGS and TFBSO have embarked on dozens of excursions in the war
zone to collect and analyze mineral samples to confirm the aerial findings.

"Performing an assessment of mineral resources in Afghanistan is not like going out in the
United States and doing normal field work," Medlin said. "What becomes very, very obvious in
Afghanistan is the huge amount of pre-planning that has to take place in order to visit any site in
that country, such as who is going to provide security and how much security is needed. You
also have to plan how you are actually going to get to some place, as for most of the sites in
Afghanistan, you cannot drive there — our work involved helicopters, and for our safety, we
couldn't be on the ground very long to get samples."

The researchers' work has helped develop what are essentially treasure maps that let mining
companies know what minerals are there, how much is there, and where they are, all to attract
bids on the rights to the deposits. The Afghan government has already signed a 30-year, $3
billion contract with the China Metallurgical Group, a state-owned mining enterprise based in
Beijing, to exploit the Mes Aynak copper deposit, and awarded mining rights for the country's
biggest iron deposit to a group of Indian state-run and private companies. [Is China Mining a
Rare Earth Monopoly? Op-Ed]

"These resources provide the potential for Afghanistan to develop its economy, to create jobs and
build infrastructure, as it goes into the future," Medlin said.

The mineral riches could lift Afghanistan out of poverty and fight crime and terrorism, said Said
Mirzad, co-coordinator of the U.S. Geological Survey's Afghanistan program.

"Terrorists in Afghanistan exploited the misery of the local population," Mirzad said. "If you
give the population jobs, if they could bring bread to the table, if they had something to defend,
then the terrorists, who are very few in number, won't have sway."

Challenges to mining

However, developing a mining industry in Afghanistan faces major challenges. "One of the
biggest challenges is security," Medlin said. "Another challenge is the lack of infrastructure.
We're talking about access to energy, which is required to develop mines. We're talking access to
roads, railroads and so forth. We're also talking about access to water, which is needed in most
mining operations. It's all a big challenge, but it's doable. It won't happen overnight, but it's
doable."

The USGS is currently helping to rebuild the scientific expertise of the Afghanistan Geological
Survey, teaching the researchers modern techniques such as remote sensing. "We want to bring
the Afghanistan Geological Survey into the 21st century," Medlin said. "The aim is to help the
Afghans develop their mineral resources in a sustainable way."

Mining and other forms of natural resources development can lead to graft, corruption, social
unrest and environmental degradation. Other nations rich in resources such as Botswana, Chile
and Norway could provide Afghanistan good models to emulate in order to avoid these
problems, said Marcia McNutt, editor-in-chief of the journal Science and director of the USGS in
the summer of 2012.

For example, important factors contributing to peace and prosperity in those nations are strong
public institutions, equitable redistribution of revenues, environmental planning and investment
in education, scientific institutions and human resources, McNutt noted.

"The leaders of Afghanistan will have many important decisions to make in the coming years
and decades," McNutt wrote in an editorial in the Aug. 15 issue of the journal Science. "Science
has opened the door to a new, more prosperous future. May they use this opportunity wisely."

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