Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: uptown on June 14, 2010, 06:30:27 AM
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial)
This is a brilliant idea to get that country out of the dark ages and into the real world. With the vast wealth this place has, maybe this is the answer to their problems.
My hat's off to U.S. government for actually using their heads for once.
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Afghan coming out of "the dark ages" .. not in our lifetime.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial)
This is a brilliant idea to get that country out of the dark ages and into the real world. With the vast wealth this place has, maybe this is the answer to their problems.
My hat's off to U.S. government for actually using their heads for once.
It certainly presents opportunites for them which can be translated into hope for a better future. The real question is who's going to risk investing into such an unstable part of the world to develop these mines?
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Pentagon brass must have missed the irony in “Saudi Arabia of lithium.”
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afghanistan is like that little piece of property surrounded by the backyards of a dozen houses that no one takes ownership of......you know..the tall grass where all the dog crap, garbage and used washer/dryers end up.
Edited the warrior ant stuff out.
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It certainly presents opportunites for them which can be translated into hope for a better future. The real question is who's going to risk investing into such an unstable part of the world to develop these mines?
If the Afghan people are smart, hopefully they'll invest in their own future. The place has been a wasteland since the beginning of time and now they have a little hope to turn all that around. It'll be interesting to see what they do with this knowledge.
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you really think they have just discovered that?
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afghanistan is like that little piece of property surrounded by the backyards of a dozen houses that no one takes ownership of......you know..the tall grass where all the dog crap, garbage and used washer/dryers end up.
Poison the place in its entirety. Just spray it, kill it. No one needs nor wants it, and the little soldier ants that call the place home have zero positive contribution to the rest of the globe and have done nothing but cause all the rest of us problems for hundreds of years.
It aint worth it, just spray those little soldier ants, leave enough poison leftover to keep the place dead for a few hundred years and be done with it.
Wow
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Wow
It's personal.
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It's personal.
I see, while I'm sure you've got an interesting story and it would be an intriguing topic to discuss, I know this thread won't last long if we started that conversation.
:salute
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ants ... poison ... etc
so you want to gas the afghans. any other groups you consider subhuman?
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so you want to gas the afghans. any other groups you consider subhuman?
The Bish of course.
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EDIT: screw it.
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That's not exactly a valid reason for wanting to exterminate an entire population, as you so eloquently put it.
Lol, you have no idea.
Edited the warrior ant stuff out.
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I removed my post, continuing this won't be productive for anyone ;)
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I removed my post, continuing this won't be productive for anyone ;)
Smart :aok
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I removed my post, continuing this won't be productive for anyone ;)
Of course you are correct. I digress :bolt:
Edited the warrior ant stuff out.
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It certainly presents opportunites for them which can be translated into hope for a better future. The real question is who's going to risk investing into such an unstable part of the world to develop these mines?
China, and they're expected to make a very aggressive bid to get the mining rights.
ack-ack
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so you want to gas the afghans. any other groups you consider subhuman?
Yes and yes but that's a different discussion off these boards.
If the Chinese get their mitts on the mining rights there the economy won't do as well as some would expect. China isn't known for "good paying jobs" and "safety regulations"...especially where foreign workers are concerned.
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Yes and yes but that's a different discussion off these boards.
I am a self moderating tool lol :rock
Some day the sun is gonna burn out :cry
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China, and they're expected to make a very aggressive bid to get the mining rights.
ack-ack
I'm hoping our government will not let that happen. It definitely wouldn't be in our best interest to let China get their fingers into it.
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Surprised this thread is still open.
Vast mineral wealth + unstable governance mixed with a poorly diversified economy =/= happy, wealthy citizens. Case in point, several sub-Saharan African nations. Of course the economic and political landscape is quite different between say Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, but all the same this news needs to be taken with a large grain of salt. (Or Iron, as it were)
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I think it would be safe to say that a small segment of the population would profit fantastically while the rest of Afghanistan would continue living in relative squalor. Of course it doesn't take a history professor to figure these things out, does it.
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How many Third-World countries have risen out of poverty when mineral wealth is discovered?
The only people going to profit from this are a few high ranking government officials and First-World corporations.
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Ahhh Afghanistan, warm atmosphere, friendly people, lax gun laws... ;)
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:lol that's an interesting way of looking at it.
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The USGS published this information (rich deposits of natural resources) in 2002 and even earlier (1979)the Russians attempted to transport resources home to Russia. We have the same thing here in America (you may be surprised to learn that) but at least Afghanistan has the benefit of having recently executed their environmetalists.
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I'm hoping our government will not let that happen. It definitely wouldn't be in our best interest to let China get their fingers into it.
That is one of the major fears is that we'll lose out on the lion's share of the mineral/mining rights but it's ultimately up to the Afghani government to decide who they give the rights too.
Another major fear is that this could further inflame the current troubles going on over there with the Taliban and even with the various tribes. The find promises untold riches but also opens on a very large can of worms.
ack-ack
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China, and they're expected to make a very aggressive bid to get the mining rights.
ack-ack
There will be a lot of investors that will jump into this. This is really big finding that vary well change the economic of Afganistian and the regional areas.
That is one of the major fears is that we'll lose out on the lion's share of the mineral/mining rights but it's ultimately up to the Afghani government to decide who they give the rights too.
Another major fear is that this could further inflame the current troubles going on over there with the Taliban and even with the various tribes. The find promises untold riches but also opens on a very large can of worms.
ack-ack
Who knows what the out come will be like. You, I and many of us will be dead before we really see the full affects once the operation is full throttle. I do agree with you on the "can of worms".
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They've known about those deposits since the 70's.
In the 90's the only nation to have vast deposits of lithium and other electronics-making minerals/resources was China..and China (and the US) knew those resources wouldnt last very long. Not so long ago ( i believe 4 months?) the news reported China was preparing to cut back on production of stuff that used those resources which were becoming scarce.
Other Nations that have deposits are already industrialized or are in an advanced stage of industrialization (USA, Europe, Russia, India and some African nations) so the price of the material would be substantially higher than the cheap-labor Chinese mined stuff.
New source is needed.
OH LOOK theres a tons in Afghanistan where there's zero industry, where there's US troops already there and its a nation thats currently in a political vacuum.
how.. convenient.
:noid
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They've known about those deposits since the 70's.
In the 90's the only nation to have vast deposits of lithium and other electronics-making minerals/resources was China..and China (and the US) knew those resources wouldnt last very long. Not so long ago ( i believe 4 months?) the news reported China was preparing to cut back on production of stuff that used those resources which were becoming scarce.
Other Nations that have deposits are already industrialized or are in an advanced stage of industrialization (USA, Europe, Russia, India and some African nations) so the price of the material would be substantially higher than the cheap-labor Chinese mined stuff.
New source is needed.
OH LOOK theres a tons in Afghanistan where there's zero industry, where there's US troops already there and its a nation thats currently in a political vacuum.
how.. convenient.
:noid
I do not think it was convenient. US Geologist accidentally discover the survey report of the large mineral deposits in 2002-2003 while going over Afghanistan archives. We knew what was there but did not know how big it was untill now.
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I dont believe in convenient trillion dollar 'fortunate accidents' ;)
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I dont believe in convenient trillion dollar 'fortunate accidents' ;)
I think it just was that they didn't have the technology or the equipment to know just how vast these deposits actually were until now, plus the geologist that did know about the deposits hide all the charts & information on the deposits after the Taliban took control because they didn't want to make the Taliban any stronger then it was.
You can hope that this kick starts there economy and they start being able to build a better infrastructure for the country, and then start to see a trickle down effect.
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so you think the Russians did not know?
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so you think the Russians did not know?
The Russian knew because they are the ones that did the survey in 1980s. As trax1 said, some of the Afghanistan geologist took the report and hide them, afraid that Taliban may destroy them.
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Yeah the Russians knew, it's just no one knew exactly how much of the minerals were in these deposits until the US geologist did some advanced surveys in 04, the articles says they flew an "old Navy Orion P-3 over 70% of the country using advanced gravity and magnetic measuring equipment attached to it", then in 07 they came back with even more advanced equipment using an "old British bomber equipped with instruments that offered a three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below the earth’s surface", the article also said "It was the most comprehensive geologic survey of Afghanistan ever conducted", so it sounds like the Russians didn't know the extent of the deposits, only that they existed.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?no_interstitial)
This is a brilliant idea to get that country out of the dark ages and into the real world. With the vast wealth this place has, maybe this is the answer to their problems.
My hat's off to U.S. government for actually using their heads for once.
I'm thinking thats probably one of the reasons why the US is really there... kinda like the US being in Iraq or BP being in the Gulf of Mexico. It's also highly doubtful the Afghans will come out of the stoneage while "their" religous fanatics are still hell-bent on controlling their country. (Disclaimer)... IMHO.
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I'm thinking thats probably one of the reasons why the US is really there...
But no one even knew that the mineral deposits were this large until '07, '04 at the earliest. People knew that Afghanistan had mineral deposits because of the Russian charts & surveys, but the only people who knew about those charts were geologists in Afghanistan who were keeping the charts in hiding from the Taliban, they were only shown to US geologists after we had ousted the Taliban.
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But no one even knew that the mineral deposits were this large until '07, '04 at the earliest.
Call me paranoid, I just do not believe that. :salute
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Call me paranoid, I just do not believe that. :salute
:noid
Really though, from a cost / benefit ratio this conflict would make no sense, were it based on the economics of this survey. I'd be happy to go into it in greater detail via pm, but fear the skuzzy stick to further elaborate in this post. :uhoh
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It really doesn't matter whether we knew it or not, It is out to the public now. Next question is what to do next.
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Fly all the surveys you want but until you have core in your hand it is still all wild speculation.
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Call me paranoid, I just do not believe that. :salute
Yeah it still wouldn't make any kind of fiscal sense, you know what this war has cost to maintain for this long, way more then anything we would ever make back in mineral deposits, plus the majority of the money from these mineral deposits will go to Afghanistan & what ever country wins the bid to mine the deposits, not the U.S. Like I said we may see money from these deposits, but nothing close to what we've spent on the war.
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Yeah it still wouldn't make any kind of fiscal sense, you know what this war has cost to maintain for this long, way more then anything we would ever make back in mineral deposits, plus the majority of the money from these mineral deposits will go to Afghanistan & what ever country wins the bid to mine the deposits, not the U.S. Like I said we may see money from these deposits, but nothing close to what we've spent on the war.
I am sure some U.S mining company will have operations there.
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I am sure some U.S mining company will have operations there.
Oh of course, thats why I said that we will see some money from these deposits, but just nothing close to an amount to justify invading the country to get our hands on the mineral deposits like Grind was suggesting.
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Oh of course, thats why I said that we will see some money from these deposits, but just nothing close to an amount to justify invading the country to get our hands on the mineral deposits like Grind was suggesting.
Not only the minerals...true, geographical location (Iran etc..) Maybe control or at least access to the oil pipelines they were wanting to run through the country. And then there is the dope to deal with...(kinda like the stellar job we're doing in Columbia). I guess what I'm really suggesting is that I don't trust upper management (senators or ceos). When @#%& hits the fan, I tend to blame the people calling shots.... for example... ummm the current condition of our global economy, or the gulf oil spill....etc... and usually someone is lying about whats going on....Call me jaded.
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Iv'e read China is already building a mine or have rights to one.
Link http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/03/08/63452/chinas-thirst-for-copper-could.html (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/03/08/63452/chinas-thirst-for-copper-could.html)
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Iv'e read China is already building a mine or have rights to one.
Link http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/03/08/63452/chinas-thirst-for-copper-could.html (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/03/08/63452/chinas-thirst-for-copper-could.html)
Yeah in the article the OP linked to mentioned that Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by U.S officials of taking 30 million in bribes to award China the rights to those copper mines, it said that the man has since been replaced.
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Iv'e read China is already building a mine or have rights to one.
Link http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/03/08/63452/chinas-thirst-for-copper-could.html (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/03/08/63452/chinas-thirst-for-copper-could.html)
After reading that article.... kind of blows my theory out of the water.... Why is the US there again? Oh yeah, Bin Laden.
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oh heys...
it just jumped from 1 trillion to nearly 3 trillion.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Afghan-mineral-wealth-may-be-apf-3305688522.html?x=0
what a pleasant, yet innocuously convenient find!
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Money money money.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sVUvpdT-NY&feature=related
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it just jumped from 1 trillion to nearly 3 trillion.
Yea, as reported by the Minister of Mines, and based on unsourced reports:
"Afghanistan's Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani called that a conservative estimate. He said he's seen geological assessments and industry reports estimating the nation's mineral wealth at $3 trillion or more."
Conflict of interest, much? Again, let's wait and see on this one folks. In the meantime, don't get your panties in a bundle. :aok