Friday, September 30, 2011

Afghanistan Holds Enormous Bounty of Rare Earths, Minerals

Geologists have found a huge deposit of rare earth elements in Afghanistan. There is enough there to supply the earth's needs for 10 years says Robert Tucker, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist who is the lead author on a report about the findings released on September 14.
There are many chemicals such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium 1 million metric tons are known of at this point, these chemicals can be used to make explosives.

This discovery ranks Afghanistan in the top ten of the countries that have these elements. China is first and has the biggest export in this area in the world, currently holding 97% of the worlds supply. U.S. reserves are around 12 million metric tons.

Mr. Tucker was flown in, with a team of geologists, he arrived in black hawk helicopters with high security soldiers. He said that it was quite an experience looking for these elements in 14 pounds of protective gear. The deposit was near the border of Pakistan in a war zone.

This discovery is the most important part of the USGS's 2000 page report of the mineral deposit in Afghanistan. the deposit is valued at $420 million dollars, the report will be was delivered on September 29, 2011 to the Afghanistan embassy in Washington D.C.

On the second excursion to the site they learned that one of the minerals was ore, a canary yellow very rare element. The value of this element alone is thought to be 7.4 billion dollars.

The geologists will unfortunately not be able to make any more investigations because the USGS's funds have run out, so the deposit will remain untouched.

1. Do you think that the elements should be tapped, considering that they could be used for violence?
2. Would you go to the site, even if it was in a war zone?
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11 comments:

  1. The BuckOctober 4, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    1. I think that they shouldn't be touched because even though they could bring big amounts of money it could also lead to many more wars over it like Pakistan invading to get the ores to get money or to use the ores as explosives.


    2. I wouldn't go to risk my life for something that could cause fights and wars. Also i wouldn't go there to research the ores, I would just study the ores at a lab.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ben ClermontOctober 4, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    1. I think that the chemicals should be taken and burnt, or dropped in the ocean because they are powerful and can be very harmful if the Afghans use it, or if they get it stolen it can go back against them.
    2. I would never go there, since there is absolutely no point for me to do so. I would much less go if it was in a war zone.

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  3. jeantarOctober 5, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    1.i think that we would not have to take it.it could be a danger for the country that is trying to have money because they would kill each other
    2.i would not go there even if i need a lot of money because i could die

    ReplyDelete
  4. abissonnetteOctober 5, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    1.I think that it is a toss up because it can be bad for the Afghans and good for them. It can be bad for them because it could go against them but, it could be good because they could use it against others.

    2. I wouldn't go there because I wouldn't want to risk my life just to get rich. My life isn't worth any kind of money.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Devin WangOctober 6, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    1. I think that they shouldn't be touched if they are going to us it for the wars, they should touched it for make things or make life easier.

    2. if that can help a lot of people I would but (not using for war)

    ReplyDelete
  6. alberto de la parraOctober 6, 2011 at 9:17 AM

    1 I think they shouldn't be touched because it could be helpful but we had seen through the years that humanity always finds excuses to do wars. and a lot of countries would like to fight for the chemicals.

    2 I wouldn't go to the war zone there is always a chance that you'll get hurt.

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  7. luis javier anconaOctober 6, 2011 at 9:19 AM

    1.- i thimk they reallyneed to protrct all these minerals because they can be used to make bombs and weapons and they should't not use them for war instead of that they should try to create a new way of combustible
    2.- i would not go becauese it would be really dangerous to go

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  8. Bnsmith81October 8, 2011 at 10:15 AM

    1. I think they shouldn't even go near the ores for on thing and try to not use it for violence because I think they can use some other materail for violence!
    2. I wouldn't go if there was a war because it would be dangerous over there.
    Bnsmith81

    ReplyDelete
  9. berny gOctober 12, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    1- I think that the materials should be tapped, so they can avoid wars and the spread of violence in that zone,just for money or local wars.

    2- I'll never would go to that place, first of all if it was on war and I dont have any point to visit Afghanistan

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  10. Regina CamarenaOctober 27, 2011 at 7:46 PM

    1- I don't think that it is safe to touch, considering that they could make very dangerous weapons that would lead to a war. They should be kept away, or even destroyed so they won't cause any problem.

    2- I would definitely never go to such a place like that considering that war is there and you never know what could happen.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Matthias EmondOctober 31, 2011 at 7:35 PM

    1: Yes. Many things humans have are dangerous, but not all are used for war. The precious resources could be further analyzed and we could learn more about the minerals.
    2:Yes, also. Although it would be risking my life, id die trying to discover new facts and billions of dollars worth of minerals!

    ReplyDelete

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