U.S., Afghan Study Finds Mineral Deposits Worth $3 Trillion

Afghan minister of mines Wahidullah Shahrani said geologists have discovered untapped mineral deposits worth an estimated $3 trillion, which could help drive economic growth and reduce unemployment.

“There is a massive copper deposit located in Balkhab district of Saripul province,” Sharani told reporters in the capital Kabul today at a joint press conference with U.S. deputy under secretary of defense Paul Brinkley. “It is valued at billions of U.S. dollars and one of the biggest untapped copper mines in Afghanistan.”