Azita Miakhel There are two sides of each story…

 Afghanistan has nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits, according to a US study. A report in the New York Times said previously unknown reserves of lithium, iron, gold, niobium, cobalt and other minerals could transform the impoverished country into one of the world’s most lucrative mining centres.

“There is stunning potential here,” General David Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told the paper in an article published on Monday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

The New York Times was reporting the final results of a study by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and a Pentagon task force, initiated in 2006. It quoted a Pentagon memo as saying Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and mobile phones. Afghanistan’s potential lithium deposits are as large of those of Bolivia, which currently has the world’s largest known reserves of the metal.

The iron and copper deposits are also large enough to make Afghanistan one of the Afghanistan has nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits, according to a US study. A report in the New York Times said previously unknown reserves of lithium, iron, gold, niobium, cobalt and other minerals could transform the impoverished country into one of the world’s most lucrative mining centres.

“There is stunning potential here,” General David Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told the paper in an article published on Monday.

“There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

The New York Times was reporting the final results of a study by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and a Pentagon task force, initiated in 2006.

It quoted a Pentagon memo as saying Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and mobile phones.

Afghanistan’s potential lithium deposits are as large of those of Bolivia, which currently has the world’s largest known reserves of the metal. The iron and copper deposits are also large enough to make Afghanistan one of theworld’s leading producers, US officials said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/06/2010614125754275336.html

Thats exactly what we knew all the time.