"Protected by armed guards, they spent three months drilling
test holes into the snowcapped peaks, as curious goat- and sheepherders looked
on. "We hit copper damn near everywhere," said Robert Miller, a Colorado-based
mining executive recruited by the Pentagon to help advise Afghan authorities on
how to develop the country's natural resources. "It's a very encouraging
finding." Studies have found that Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest and
most war-torn countries, sits atop hydrocarbon and mineral deposits that could
be worth more than a trillion dollars. The Afghan government
and its U.S. backers are counting on this largely untapped wealth — including
oil, gas, copper, iron, gold and lithium — to bring in cash and create jobs as
international assistance begins to wind down." (thanks Amir)