By Geena Paul
KABUL (Commodity Online): After Zimbabwe, the next place the world’s miners are rushing to is Afghanistan. The Taliban infested country is the best location for all miners for a shopping spree now.

Because, slowly the Afghanistan’s miner richness is coming out in the open. And the wealth is pegged at $ 1-3 trillion.

When the Zimbabwe unveiled its new diamond mines to the world recently, several miners rushed to that country to book their spots. Similarly, Afghanistan will also see a flood of companies coming to them in the coming years as its mineral wealth like Copper and Gold are the main target of many multi-national firms.

If all goes well, Afghanistan could be self-sufficient within a decade if its mineral resources are properly exploited.

Afghanistan’s minister Wahid Shahrani recently encouraged the world’s mining companies to invest in his country. He said his country has untapped mineral wealth worth in excess of $3tn.

Mining could move the country from being aid dependent to being self-sufficient in 10 years. Afghanistan’s wealth includes vast reserves of oil, gas, copper, gold and lithium.

In seven years mining taxes should pay the government $1bn a year and within a decade Afghanistan could be self-sufficient.

Security is another key concern in relation to exploiting the country’s mineral reserves. The first big projects on offer are in the most secure regions of the country - and the government has promised investors a special mining protection security force. Mining companies will also have to invest heavily in infrastructure, from Electricity to roads and railways.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s mining minister has vowed transparency in the awarding of contracts to exploit the country’s untapped mineral wealth.

Afghan and US officials say the newfound wealth will benefit the Afghan people, but some warn it will take years to develop the mineral resources.  Challenges include a lack of infrastructure and security, with some of the deposits located in Taliban strongholds.

Afghanistan’s stunning untapped mineral wealth could prove to be a curse rather than a blessing for the war-ravaged country if it is not managed properly.

If the country does not have a very solid government foundation and if it does not set up strong regulations for exploration of minerals, 10 years from now these very same rich underground resources could become disastrous for the nation.

President Hamid Karzai said Afghans should to be cautious of plots to weaken the government to extract Afghanistan’s huge reserves of lithium, iron, copper, gold, niobium, mercury, Cobalt and other minerals.

The mineral wealth of Afghanistan has remained largely unexploited because the country has been mired in conflict for three decades and is today embroiled in an insurgency by Islamist militants led by the Taliban.

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