Afghanistan Holds Enormous Bounty of Rare Earths, Minerals

[n2doc]

Geologists actually mapping the country's mineral bounty suspect its prime cache of coveted rare earth elements is considerably larger than the latest estimate lets on
By Sarah Simpson | September 29, 2011 |

Recent exploration of rare volcanic rocks in the rugged, dangerous desert of southern Afghanistan has identified world-class concentrations of rare earth elements, the prized group of raw materials that are essential in the manufacture of many modern technologies, from electric cars to solar panels. So far, geologists say, they have mapped one million metric tons of these critical elements, which include lanthanum, cerium and neodymium.

That's enough to supply the world's rare earth needs for 10 years based on current consumption, points out Robert Tucker, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist who is the lead author on a report released on September 14. And from clues his team gathered during three high-security reconnaissance missions to the site, he suspects the deposit is actually much larger.

"I fully expect that our estimates are conservative," Tucker told Scientific American. "With more time, and with more people doing proper exploration, it could become a major, major discovery."

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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=afghanistan-holds-enormous-bounty-of-rare-earths

[Angry Dragon]

1. Follow the money

And keep an eye on the Chinese

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. Gemstones too.

[Robb]

3. Good piece. Although it missed a big bit there on China

Points out that China holds 97% of the worlds rare earth reserves, then mentions Aynak mining, then neglects to mention it's China that holds the lease --they invested like $3 billion, four years ago now (Jiangxi was the company, IIRC).

The only country who's built roads and infrastructure for mining there is China.

[ret5hd]

4. surprise surprise surprise

[Drew Richards]

5. Afghan Gov already sold rights to mineral deposits to China and Russia we got bupkis

[jwirr]

6. This is an area I have little to no expertise: Are rare earths and these

minerals vital to human survival?

[bhikkhu]

7. Rare earths are common; one of the biggest deposits is in Nebraska

I don't think the industry is going to flock to Afghanistan to set up mining and processing centers,

[izquierdista]

8. Nevada

Not Nebraska. The town of Mountain Pass, CA 50 miles south of Las Vegas on I-15, that was a producing rare earths mine until the mid-90s. While Mountain Pass is in California, the mineral deposit stretches to the north into Nevada. The mine was shut down due to "high costs and low demand", letting the Chinese gain a monopoly on production.

To answer the other commenter, rare earths are not necessary for human life, civilization got along fine until the 1900s without them. However, in the last century research showed some of them to have some unique properties, and they are necessary for a high technology society. Samarium is used in high strength magnets and gadolinium is the best neutron absorber known. All that boron they are trying to dump into Fukushima to absorb the neutrons from the melted down reactor cores? They would need a lot less gadolinium to do the job.

[bhikkhu]

9. "Tiny village in Nebraska hides world’s largest rare earth mineral deposits"

http://www.geek.com/articles/news/tiny-village-in-nebraska-hides-worlds-largest-rare-earth-mineral-deposits-2011085/

...but the Nevada deposits do underscore the lack of "rareness".

[izquierdista]

11. Interesting....

Now why is it that Canadians have to come here to develop this resource instead of Americans? Oh yea, Americans don't manufacture anything any more.

[seabeyond]

10. i understand they have known about it forever, not extractable and sold to china. nt