Newly mapped deposits of minerals in Afghanistan — most significantly rare earth elements — could prove to be the "silver lining" in the war-torn nation's recent struggles.

Afghanistan remains a ravaged land as members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) prepare to depart.

"However, the resources Afghanistan's land holds — copper, cobalt, iron, barite, sulfur, lead, silver, zinc, niobium, and 1.4 million metric tons of rare earth elements (REEs) — may be a silver lining," according to The American, the online magazine of the American Enterprise Institute.

U.S. agencies estimate Afghanistan's mineral deposits to be worth as much as $1 trillion, and a classified Pentagon memo called the country the "Saudi Arabia of lithium." Lithium is technically not one of the REEs, but it shares some of their uses.

Using new technologies deployed by aircraft, U.S. military and geological experts have been able to peer beneath the surface to map the nation's vast mineral wealth.

Jim Bullion, who heads a Pentagon task force on Afghanistan's postwar development, has said these maps reveal that the country could "become a world leader in the minerals sector."

REEs are crucial to the world economy. They are 17 chemical elements, such as cerium, erbium, and ytterbium, that are used in the manufacture of a wide range of items, including cellphones, televisions, computer components, lasers, fiber optics, and superconductors. And they are crucial to tank navigation systems, missile guidance systems, satellites, and fighter jet engines.

China, which produces 97 percent of the world's REEs, has tried to manipulate the market by slowing or even halting exports.

The United States, Australia, and others stopped mining their own deposits a decade ago because it was cheaper to buy Chinese ores, Newsmax reported earlier.

Afghanistan's REEs could be part of a long-term solution to the supply of the elements and help the country recover after decades of war.

But China has won exploration rights for lithium and some other minerals in Afghanistan, The American reports, adding: "Given China's stranglehold on the REE market, and the West's commitment in blood and treasure to Afghanistan's future, allowing China to stroll in and harvest Afghanistan's rare earth riches seems both unwise and unfair."

The article by Alan W. Down, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute, suggests that before ISAF nations withdraw, "they should use their considerable leverage to ensure a level playing field for any company willing to take a risk in developing Afghanistan's mineral wealth."

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