Afghanistan invites India to invest in mining sector

Afghanistan has invited India to invest in the country's mining industry, a country that is now estimated to hold nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits, as revealed by the US Pentagon to The New York Times yesterday.

Afghanistan's minister of mines, Wahidullah Shahrani today called on the union minister of mines and development, B K Handique and invited India to invest in his country's mining sector, particularly on iron ore, copper, gold and coal.

This invitation comes just a day after the US Pentagon disclosed that Afghanistan has nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits - enough to turn a country racked by decades of conflict into one of the most important mining centres in the world. (See: Afghanistan holds $1-trillion in mineral deposits: Pentagon)

An internal Pentagon assessment says the huge mineral reserves contain lithium, a key industrial metal, stocks of which are large enough to turn the country into the 'Saudi Arabia of lithium'.

According to American geologists, the deposits, which include large veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium are large enough to alter the shape of the Afghan economy.

Handique and Shahrani discussed possible cooperation between Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Afghan Geological Survey for capacity building of Afghan geoscientists in the field of mineral exploration, seismotectonics, geo-technical studies, remote sensing and other areas.