Untapped trove of minerals in militants' hands

PARIS • The Taleban now holds the keys to an untouched US$1 trillion (S$1.36 trillion) trove of minerals including some that could power the world's transition to renewable energies, but Afghanistan has long struggled to tap its vast deposits.

The Taleban is already in a financial bind since it returned to power 20 years after its ouster, as major aid donors halted their support for Afghanistan.

Endless wars and poor infrastructure have prevented the country from getting its hands on the metals that could brighten its economic fortunes.

The resources include bauxite, copper, iron ore, lithium and rare earths, according to a January report by the US Geological Survey (USGS). Copper, which is needed to make power cables, became a hot commodity earlier this year as prices soared to more than US$10,000 per tonne.

Lithium is a crucial element to make electric car batteries, solar panels and wind farms.

World demand for lithium is expected to grow by more than 40 times by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.

And Afghanistan "sits on a huge reserve of lithium that has not been tapped to this day", said Mr Guillaume Pitron, author of the book The Rare Metals War.

Afghanistan is also home to rare earths that are used in the clean energy sector: neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium.

The country's untapped mineral riches have been estimated at US$1 trillion by the USGS, although Afghan officials have put it at three times as high.

Afghanistan has done better digging for precious stones such as emeralds and rubies, as well as semi-precious tourmaline and lapis lazuli, but the business is plagued with illegal smuggling to Pakistan.

The country also mines for talc, marble, coal and iron.

While the Taleban's takeover may deter foreign investors, one country that appears willing to do business with it is China.

The world's second-biggest economy has said it is ready to have "friendly and cooperative" relations with Afghanistan, after the Taleban entered Kabul.

The project to tap the world's second-largest unexploited copper deposit has yet to start operations "due to safety issues", according to Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times.

But the newspaper cited a source at the group as saying that it would "consider reopening it after the situation is stabilised, and international recognition - including the Chinese government's recognition of the Taleban regime - takes place".

Mr Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think-tank, warned that there is no certainty of Afghanistan becoming a mineral El Dorado.

"For that, you need a very stable political climate," Mr Pitron said.

It can take as long as 20 years between the discovery of a mineral deposit and the start of mining operations, he said.

"No company will want to invest if there is no stable political and legal system."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE