Taliban Sits On $1 Trillion Worth Of Minerals The World Needs

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. But in 2010, US military officials and geologists revealed that the country, which sits at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, was sitting on mineral deposits worth nearly $1 trillion that could dramatically transform its economic prospects, Julia Horowitz reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: Band e-Amir lakes, Bamyan Province

Supplies of minerals such as iron, copper, and gold are scattered across the country. There are also rare earth minerals and, perhaps most importantly, what could be one of the world's biggest untapped deposits of lithium — an essential but scarce component in rechargeable batteries and other technologies vital to tackling the climate crisis.

"Afghanistan is certainly one of the regions richest in traditional precious metals, but also the metals [needed] for the emerging economy of the 21st century," said Rod Schoonover, a scientist and security expert who founded the Ecological Futures Group.

As of 2020, an estimated 90% of Afghans were living below the government-determined poverty level of $2 per day, according to a report from the US Congressional Research Service published in June.

Demand for metals like lithium and cobalt, as well as rare earth elements such as neodymium, is soaring as countries try to switch to electric cars and other clean technologies to slash carbon emissions.

The International Energy Agency said in May that global supplies of lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements needed to increase sharply or the world would fail in its attempt to tackle the climate crisis.

Three countries — China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Australia — currently account for 75% of the global output of lithium, cobalt, and rare earths. The US government has reportedly estimated that lithium deposits in Afghanistan could rival those in Bolivia, home to the world's largest known reserves.

Defeated US President Donald Trump actually cut a deal with the Taliban without the participation of the Afghan government that called for freeing 5,000 Taliban prisoners, lifting sanctions against Taliban leaders, and allowing them to rearm and secure cash.

In return, Trump was satisfied with a mere promise by the Taliban not to allow Afghanistan to be used as a base to attack the US, a pledge that is better known in the breach than the compliance. The Taliban simply laughed their way to the next offensive. Biden, who never liked Republican wars of aggression, was bound by the lousy Trump deal, Matt Egan and Charles Riley also reported for CNN.

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