China and the Afghanistan Lithium Coup

Here is a recent article that appeared on the Khaama Press News Agency website, an independent news organization which was formed in 2010 to ensure free press and journalism in Afghanistan:

 

As background, according to Afghanistan's Ministry of Information and Cultures’ analytical data in 2021, Khaama Press was ranked as Afghanistan’s top ranking and number one news website. 

 

A similar article appeared on the Afghanistan Times news website:

 

 

China, a nation whose leadership plays the long-game, is making this move to ensure the security of its supply of lithium, a key component in the global move toward electrification.

 

Back in 2022, the Brookings Institution took notice of this possibility:

 

Here is a quote:

 

"Concern by the United States and its allies about China’s potential push into Afghanistan’s mining sector is well-founded. China is diplomatically and commercially poised to make additional moves in Afghanistan. Beijing is well positioned to strike mining deals with the Taliban. It has kept its diplomatic mission running in Kabul, hinted that it may formally recognize the Taliban government, and voiced opposition to international sanctions against Afghanistan— though has stopped short of trying to lift them. Foreign Minister Wang Yi even made a surprise visit to the country in late March, the highest-ranking foreign official of any country besides Pakistan and Qatar to do so after the Taliban’s rise to power. He denounced “the political pressure and economic sanctions on Afghanistan imposed by non-regional forces.”

 

Chinese-Afghan mining deals theoretically make sense. Chinese mining companies could provide the Taliban with much-needed cash to soften the blow of a crippling international sanctions program, which has sparked an economic and humanitarian crisis. In exchange, Beijing would get access to a new, bountiful source of minerals critical to the government’s ongoing decarbonization efforts."

 

In April 2019, this article appeared on the TOLO News website, An Afghani news channel broadcasting from Kabul:

 

 

Lithium reserves in Afghanistan were first discovered by scientists from the Soviet Union in the 1980s.  After discovering maps left behind by USSR scientists, the United States Geological Service (USGS) acquired imaging spectrometer data over most of Afghanistan in 2007 to assess the nation's mineral wealth, covering an area of more than 438,000 square kilometres as shown here:

 

 

From this data, geologists were able to interpret the geological makeup of the surface minerals.  Rare minerals like lithium, caesium tantalum and niobium occur in three main types of deposits; pegmatites (very coarsely interlocking crystalline igneous rocks that are abundant in quartz, felspar and mica as well as mega-crystals of rare-earth elements), mineralized springs and playa-lake sediments shown on this map:

 

The most easily extractible resources are located in mineralized spring and playa-lake sediments.  

  

Here is a map showing the location of rare-metal pegmatites in Afghanistan: 

 

Here is a table showing rare metal pegmatite reserves in Afghanistan:

 

While resource assessment is still in the very early stages, it is believed that Afghanistan's reserves of lithium could rival those of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, the Lithium Triangle Countries or LTCs  which has almost 60 percent of the world's total lithium reserves as shown here:

 

 

China is not the only nation in the region that is interested in Afghanistan's lithium resources; India and its massive electronics industry have also been courting Afghanistan's political leaders.

  

When it comes to protecting its economy and its people, China's leadership is playing the long-game.  The nation uses its economic clout to provide infrastructure and much-needed financial assistance to open doors.  This is in sharp contrast to the United States which uses the threat of financial sanctions and its military might to force nations to hand over their resources.  As you can see on this map, Afghanistan's proximity to China's Belt and Road Initiative is key to understanding why China is so interested in improving diplomatic relations with the war-torn nation: