Construct additional mines! (Afghanistan)

[Baerdog]

US survey teams discover almost $1 trillion in untapped minerals in Afghanistan.

This could be an absolute game changer for Afghanistan. It will take a long time for the country to be able to build up the industry and infrastructure to exploit these deposits, but if they do they could become a world-class exporter of important minerals. I really hope that this will help spur the creation of a stronger economy rather than just resulting in petty bickering between corrupt government officials as they try to grab as much of the potential wealth for themselves.

 

[AshburnerX]

If the right people exploit those resources, it would be game changing politically for them. Taliban wouldn't be able to take power again, as the people who own and run the mines would have the real power in the country. They'd have the money to hire the factions, the power to rebuild the country, and the support of the people as they'd be bringing in new jobs.

That is, assuming, the US doesn't do a power play and fucking gives the mineral rights to a hand picked US supporter. That'd fuck everything up.

 

[Baerdog]

That's true and the same goes for any other foreign power that tries to do the same thing. From the article, it seems like China might be eying those deposits as well.

 

[AshburnerX]

That's true and the same goes for any other foreign power that tries to do the same thing. From the article, it seems like China might be eying those deposits as well.

China is likely to be the buyer, but it's highly unlikely they have the pull to get ownership of the mines. They may be close by, but they don't exactly have the same report that the US has with them.

 

[Dave]

My guess is that whomever gets in power will exploit the people and steal the money. Like the African diamond trade.

 

[Covar]

Hopefully this can help destabilize the drug lords over there. Give the country an economic source that is not heroin.

 

[sixpackshaker]

My guess is that whomever gets in power will exploit the people and steal the money. Like the African diamond trade.

I came to mention the same thing. They might end up with Mobutu Sese Seko as president (who stole 5 Billion dollars from Zaire/D.R.Congo.)

 

[Espy]

Hopefully this can help destabilize the drug lords over there. Give the country an economic source that is not heroin.

Agreed.

 

[TommiR]

This is potentionally very good news.

I hope that either the coalition troops or the afghan forces they've trained succeed in stabilising the area, and that the country succeeds in forming a responsible political process and legislation, and that the rule of law will prevail in the tribal-oriented system that is current in Afghanistan. If these things happen, then I guess the recent mineral findings have a good chance of benefitting the afghan nation and people.

If they don't, then, as people have already pointed out, there are several examples of what can happen in a country blessed with mineral wealth but wanting in good governance.

There is an english proverb that says "hope for the best, prepare for the worst".

If the right people exploit those resources, it would be game changing politically for them. Taliban wouldn't be able to take power again, as the people who own and run the mines would have the real power in the country. They'd have the money to hire the factions, the power to rebuild the country, and the support of the people as they'd be bringing in new jobs.

Yeah, and I'd really like to stress the 'right people' part.

A potential problem with the 'wrong' people might be the owners of the mines being interested purely in making profit with the least amount of capital employed, which might well lead them to ignore non-business concerns and simply buy protection from whichever faction that was currently winning in their area, in order to keep production facilities and logistics routes safe from attacks. This seems to be a significant problem in the Niger Delta oilfields, which may not be that far-fetched a parallel if things go wrong with this mineral find in Afghanistan.

Hopefully this can help destabilize the drug lords over there. Give the country an economic source that is not heroin.

Agreed.[/QUOTE]

Likewise, though I guess a lot of things need to go right before the proceeds of this mineral wealth will provide the afghan subsistence farmer with reasonable alternatives to their main cash crop. But that might be the 'best-case' scenario, and not strictly necessary in the medium term. A more limited objective could be seeing that the money from the mining going to the central government will fund both effective counter-narcotics efforts and sufficient government control of outlying areas to make and keep poppy cultivation an unprofitable investment for the farmers.