Broschüre: Afghanistan zwischen Abzug und Wahlen - NatWiss

Netzwerk No to War – No to NATO / Deutsch-Afghanisches-FriedensnetzwerkXI.Afghan natural resourcesAfghanistan Natural Resources Secure Its Developmentsby Vladimir OdintsovSince the dawn of time Afganistan has been considered one of the poorest countries. Perhapsopium poppy and cannabis are the only plants that may be cultivated on its barrenlands. Large stocks of its natural resources were kept secret by western monopolies, and thepartucular interest of the USA to Afghanistan could be discovered after the beginning of the“crusade” by former President George W. Bush. At that time the real cause of the US companyin Afganistan was masterfully masked by “liberation war against the Taliban”, “releasingAfghan people from the terrorists’ oppression”, “spreading democracy and freedom “.The fact recently announced by the Pentagon and US Geological Service survey about nearly$1 trillion in mineral deposits in Afghanistan (including gold, cobalt, iron, copper, aluminium,argentum and lithium) can be a proof. Unearthed deposits are especially rich in the borderareas between Pakhistan and Afganistan. Experts state that Afghanistan could become theSaudi Arabia of lithium. The international community knew a thing or two about thosereserves, but they largely remained untouched due to the country’s rough terrain and theabcense of infrastrucure, moreover the fact that this country has been involved in militaryconflicts since late 1970-s doesn’t help much in this domain either.Numerous international and regional corporations, as well as a number of countries havealready shown their willingless to mire into a fight to exploit those deposits. Indian andChinese investors are especialy interested in mineral resources development in Afganistan.So, Indian minister of mining has lately stated, that India would take steps to train theAfghans and to provide opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the field of mining. Aconsortium of Indian steel companies, led by the Steel Authority of India Ltd., won thetender and received the rights to develop three sites of iron ore deposits in Hajigak, theowner of the site became a Canadian Gold Kilo co. This ore deposit is located in the areastretching from the Pamir near the northeast border with China to the western border withIran. According to geologists, the deposit contains 1.8 billion tons of iron ore with ironcontent of 64%. The ore can be used without a prior extraction and enrichment, with tonnageoutput of 10 million tons a year, stocksshould last for 180 years.In addition, an Indian Consortium is being formed to participate in gold deposits auctioninvolving India Ltd, Hindustan Copper, Aditya Birla Group and Jindal Steel.86