Even if Taliban forces and opium warlords do not try to interfere with mining by Afghan or international companies, other factors could complicate commercialization. Challenges faced at the country’s largest development project, the planned copper mine at Aynak, 20 kilometers south of Kabul, are emblematic.

For one thing, the huge site that China Metallurgical Group leased for mining encompasses a national treasure: ruins of ancient Buddhist monasteries that many Afghans hope will be protected.

Recent U.S. Geological Survey investigations suggest that earthquakes and water scarcity could threaten operations as well. "An earthquake could set them back five or 10 years in less than a minute,” says Anthony Crone, who leads the USGS seismic hazard–assessment team. Kabul has about the same earthquake risk as Port-au-Prince in Haiti, where more than 200,000 people died during the January 2010 quake that struck there. That earthquake released strain that had been building along massive blocks of the earth’s crust moving in opposite directions for some 500 years. A similar tale is playing out along Afghanistan’s Chaman fault system, which extends southwest of Kabul.

Water scarcity is another concern. The three million to four million people who live in and around the city—more than 10 percent of the country’s population—draw all their water from about 1,000 shallow wells in the Kabul Basin. The region has been in severe
drought since 2000, with no precipitation at all in the past five years. USGS water specialists predict that more than half of the wells may dry up simply because of greater water needs by a growing population. A new copper mine, which demands a lot of water, could add to the strain.

4 Comments

1. 1. jamesonJones22 06:38 PM 9/22/11

   Sounds like a lot of "could"... I don't think we (or the chinese) should stop or postpone responsible mining operations because of an immeasurable risk of potential earthquakes.
   "A new copper mine, which demands a lot of water, could add to the strain." - Really? Thanks for the information! To summarize this mathematically; Existing Strain + Future Strain = More Strain....
   
   I apologize for the ridiculous sarcasm above, but water is always a requirement for every industrial environment. Water was scarce during the 1800's when Nitrate was being mined in Peru-Chile. The mine engineers will need to plan around this scarcity, and the Afghan gov't will need to set the policy and environmental laws for the Chinese mining company. Mining can be done responsibly with proper. Gov't incentives and laws will help.
   One last comment on my soap box. All green technologies start in a mine. If we ever want to have a green energy future dominated by "renewable" energy, we need to allow responsible mining operations to exist and stop acting like "MINE" is a bad 4-letter word.

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2. 2. jgrosay 02:46 PM 9/23/11

   There's a thing that makes me suspect that Taliban have some lead: some women went back to Burka. How many miners would accept working in such a dangerous environment ?. For how much ?. Does the value of minerals obtained there cover for the war expenses, that may continue or increase ?. Who is gonna pay the cost ?

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3. 3. Wayne Williamson 07:39 PM 9/28/11

   For some reason I don't think the Chinese will have an issue mining the area...

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4. 4. Jan Steinman 04:37 PM 10/14/11

   What a bunch of jingoistic propaganda!
   
   This article is written as though the industrial nations have some divine right to natural resources in other nations. The title might as well have been, "How did our rare earths and critical minerals get under their sand?"
   
   Also disingenuous is the association with the Taliban and opium. As religious fundamentalists, the Taliban is and has always been opposed to opium. Indeed, until the US went in and messed things up, the Taliban had nearly eliminated opium farming. Oh, I forgot -- we went in there because of Osama bin Laden -- who was in Pakistan the whole time!
   
   That's not to say I approve of the Taliban or their methods. But dammit, it's THEIR country! Let Afghanistan be Afghanistan. If their people want to revolt, let them do it. But at least as many Afghanis prefer the Taliban as, for example, voted to put Steven Harper in charge of Canada (six out of ten voted AGAINST). Oh, I forgot -- Canada willingly surrenders its natural resources to the US without even any guns drawn, and NAFTA guarantees it will continue to do so, even if Canadians have to do without.
   
   How about those of us in the industrialized west simply learn to do with less? Perhaps some of these countries that we "help" (under the thin disguise of WTO or World Bank internationalism) would prefer their traditional life-style instead of the urban poor that always seem to replace the rural poor when the west goes in to "help" some country. At least the rural poor could feed themselves.
   
   I am ashamed of my scientific background when so-called "scientists" work to exploit another country's natural resources under duress. How else can you describe needing the protection of the mighty US Military in order to go prospecting?

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