USGS has published: “Lineament Analysis of Mineral Areas of Interest in Afghanistan“. The report provides lineament maps that identify areas that warrant further investigation for optimal bedrock water-well placement within 24 target areas for mineral resources. The data may also support the identification of faults related to modern seismic hazards and support studies attempting to understand the relationship between tectonic and structural controls on hydrothermal fluid flow, subsequent mineralization, and water-quality issues near mined and unmined mineral deposits.
“Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable, conventional petroleum resources for the Amu Darya Basin and Afghan–Tajik Basin Provinces of Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.
The Afghan Ministry of Mines has been inviting companies to bid on contracts to mine the copper and gold in portions of Badakhshan, Ghazni, Herat, Balkh and Sar-e-Pul Provinces. Billions of dollars worth of metals could be in these areas but there are significant infrastructure and security problems.
“Imaging spectroscopy is a tool used in mineral resource assessments and other geologic applications to provide extremely detailed information of what kinds of minerals are present on the Earth’s surface.” Quoted from the USGS research release.
“Working with the Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, members of the USGSMinerals Project assessed fuel- and non-fuel mineral resources of Afghanistan from October 2009 to September 2011 with the goal of identifying particular deposits that could be relatively easily developed.” Quoted from the USGS report.
“The Khanneshin carbonatite contains a major potential source of light rare earth elements (LREE), such as lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium. The LREE prospects in the Khanneshin carbonatite are comparable in grade to world-class deposits like Mountain Pass, CA, and Bayan Obo in China, both of which primarily contain LREE.” Quoted from the USGS news release.
A soldier in Afghanistan had a radio-controlled model truck with a wireless video camera that he used to check for bombs under trucks. Six of his friends used the RC truck to check a suspicious portion of road and it triggered an IED.
An article on the Bloomberg BusinessWeek website explains that there are significant deposits of rare earth minerals (and other minerals) in Afghanistan but there are many challenges in developing them.
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