Taliban announced readiness to attract foreign investment in Afghanistan’s lithium mines.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the interim Taliban government announced the group’s readiness to invest in global companies to mine Afghanistan’s lithium ores.
The interim government of the Taliban has asked large global companies to invest in lithium mines in Afghanistan.
The ministry announced today (Tuesday, December 14th) that the value of Afghanistan’s lithium is equal to the value of Saudi Arabia’s oil, and that the metal mines in Afghanistan remain untouched.
Now that security has been “secured”, large global companies can invest in lithium mines in Afghanistan, the ministry said.
According to studies by the US space agency (NASA), 8 lithium mines in Afghanistan start from 850 to 900 km long and 150 to 200 km wide from Herat and extend to Nuristan. The country’s lithium reserves could compete with the world’s largest known lithium reserves in Bolivia.
The New York Times also reported in 2010 that Afghanistan could become “Saudi Arabia Lithium.” The newspaper, however, had said that it would take a long time to exploit these reserves, and that Afghanistan had not benefited much from its lithium to date.
Lithium metal is used in cell phone batteries and electric vehicles. This metal has a very high potential for exploitation. With the global automotive industry moving towards the elimination of carbon pollutants, the use of lithium has become increasingly important.
Following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the Financial Times quoted Chinese and Taliban officials as saying that Chinese mining companies were looking for opportunities in Afghanistan to gain access to the country’s lithium and copper reserves.
The Taliban, however, has not officially said anything about it.
