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| Afghanistan |
| Afghanistan gears up to award contracts for vast iron ore deposits in peaceful province |
| 2010-06-17 |
| Afghanistan is gearing up to award contracts to mine one the world's largest iron ore deposits buried in a peaceful province of the nation that has at least $3 trillion in untapped minerals, the country's top mining official said Thursday. Geologists have known for decades about Afghanistan's vast deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and other prized minerals, but a U.S. Department of Defense briefing earlier this week put a startling, nearly $1 trillion price tag on the reserves. Afghanistan's Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani called that a conservative estimate. He said he's seen geological assessments and industry reports estimating the nation's mineral wealth at $3 trillion or more. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 Iron ore is very bulky for its value and you need serious transportation infrastructure - trains to a sea port. Here in Western Australia the iron ore trains are a mile long and run every couple of hours. The only feasible routes to a sea port go through Taliban territory and Balushistan. Pure wishful thinking. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-06-17 20:06 |