Taliban Not Ready For $10bn Lithium Deal With China

The Taliban says they are not in a hurry to give China access to Afghanistan’s lithium reserves, despite an offer to pay for access to the rich deposits of the metal.

Afghanistan has abundant mineral riches, which also include copper, gold, oil, natural gas, uranium, bauxite and iron.

The US Department of Defense estimated in 2010 that it could be holding $1 trillion of untapped mineral deposits.

The country’s reserves of lithium are key to the global supply of a metal that is crucial to the production of batteries for electric vehicles.

Chinese company Gochin held talks with Afghan Mines and Petroleum Minister Shahabuddin Delawar last month and, according to the ministry, offered to invest $10 billion in mining the metal and employing 120,000 people for the operations.

But although the deal could fuel hopes for the revival of Afghanistan’s reeling economy, its Taliban rulers say they are in no rush.

Afghanistan and China are connected by land through the narrow, resource-rich Wakhan Corridor.

The reason Beijing is interested in Afghanistan’s lithium reserves is related also to their proximity, according to Muhibullah Sharif, a political science expert in Kabul