Paris: The Taliban now holds the keys to the trillion dollars that are not touched by minerals including some who can strengthen the transition of the world to renewable energy, but Afghanistan has long been struggling to tap the magnitude deposit.
The Taliban was in a financial bond since they returned to power 20 years after their uster, as a large assistance donor stopped their support for Afghanistan.
Endless wars and poor infrastructure have prevented the country to take hands on metals that can enlighten their economic wealth.
Resources include bauxite, copper, iron ore, lithium and rare land, according to January report by US Geological Surveys (USGS).
Copper, which is needed to make a power cable, becomes a hot commodity this year because prices soar up to more than $ 10,000 per ton.
Lithium is an important element for making electric car batteries, solar panels and wind farms.
The demand for the world for lithium is expected to grow more than 40 times in 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.
And Afghanistan “sitting on a large reserve of lithium that has not been tapped to this day,” said Guillaume Pitron, the author of the book “Rare Metal War”.
Afghanistan is also home to rare land used in the clean energy sector: neodymium, praseodymium and disposium.
This non-utilized mineral wealth is estimated at $ 1 trillion by USGS, although Afghan officials have put it three times higher.
Afghanistan has made better excavations for precious stones such as emerald and rubies and semi-precious tourmaline and lapis lazuli, but this business is disrupted by illegal smuggling to Pakistan.
This country also mines powder, marble, coal and iron.
While the Taliban takeover can block foreign investors, one country that seems willing to do business with them is China.
The second largest economy in the world said it was ready to have a “friendly and cooperative relationship” with Afghanistan after the Taliban entered Kabul.
The Chinese Metallurgical Group Corporation won the right in 2007 to rent a giant MES Copper ore deposit for 30 years and extract 11.5 million tons of commodities.
The project to tap the second largest non-exploited copper deposit in the world has not started the operation “due to security issues”, according to global tabloids managed by China.
But the Global Times quoted the source of the group said that it would “consider booking back after the situation was stable, and international recognition – including the recognition of the Chinese government over the Taliban regime – occurred.” While Chinese leaders were “not enthusiastic” about the Taliban takeover, “they will not allow the principle to prevent pragmatism,” Ryan Hass, a senior colleague at the Washington-based Brookings Institution Tank, said on a blog.
“The lack of development of Beijing on its main investment in MES Aynak Copper Mine shows its willingness to carry out patience in pursuing return on investment,” he said.
French expert Pitron said: “Chinese do not condition their business agreements to the principles of democracy.” He warned there was no certainty that Afghanistan would be El Dorado’s mineral.
“For that, you need a very stable political climate,” said Pitron.
It could take 20 years between the discovery of mineral deposits and the initial mining operations, he said.
“No companies want to invest if there are no political and legal systems that are stable,” he said.