Undiscovered Mineral Wealth in Afghanistan?

Those noted geologists that work for the US military recently announced their "discovery" of trillions of dollars worth of minerals in Afghanistan.

"The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe."

There should be no dispute that Afghanistan likely has huge veins of minerals. However, having minerals and actually be able to mine those same minerals and bring them to market (over exceedingly tough terrain that is nowhere near a port for shipment to a smelter) in an economic manner are two different things.

In short, it could be completely true that Afghanistan does in fact possess a trillion dollars worth of metals. But if it costs a trillion dollars (or more) to pull those same metals out of the ground and sell them, then they will remain in the ground for ever more.

It's telling that the US released no geological studies or feasibility reports when announcing their "discovery". A similar move by a micro-cap company listed on an exchange in the US would likely draw an immediate rebuke from the SEC.

The announcement from the US government is so hokey that one can't help but wonder what the ulterior motive is for the release of this information.

Perhaps it's this: if Afghanistan can be shown to have a viable post-war economic future, then maybe the American people can in effect be asked to continue to put up with it and continue to pay for it out of their tax dollars for just a little while longer until the military can sort things out just enough for us to declare victory and exit.