U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan

NY Times reports U.S. Identifies Vast Riches 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.

So, now, will Code Pink tell us "it's all about lithium?"

In any event, compare the June 2008 DoD map of known Afghan minerals (upper map) with the NY Times map (lower map) accompanying the referenced article:

 Look pretty similar, don't they? Except, of course, for those values off to the right.

Click to enlarge the maps.

As the Times piece notes, this is poses some interesting questions to all the players in the latest Afghan war.

UPDATE: And the whining over "exploitation" of Afghan potential riches begins.