PROPUBLICA BUSTS OPEN: The Afghanistan Mining Scam Failure
G.I. Dough
The U.S. Spent a Half Billion on Mining in Afghanistan With ‘Limited
Progress’
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has labelled
yet another project in danger of failing. This time its U.S. plans to
develop the country’s oil, gas and minerals industries.
by Megan McCloskey
ProPublica,
G.I. Dough
ProPublica is investigating how billions of U.S. tax dollars have been spent
on questionable or failed projects and how those responsible for this waste
are rarely held accountable.
Latest Stories in this Project
Pentagon Task Force: We Want Villas and Flat-Screen TVs in Afghanistan
Plot Thickens: Pentagon Now Facing More Scrutiny Over $766 Million Task
Force
Watchdog Accuses Pentagon of Evading Questions on $800 Million Afghanistan
Program
Taxpayers Fund Yet Another Unneeded Building in Afghanistan
The Military Built Another Multimillion-Dollar Building in Afghanistan That
No One Used
The United States has spent nearly half a billion dollars and five years
developing Afghanistan’s oil, gas and minerals industries — and has little
to show for it, a government watchdog reported today.
The project’s failings are the result of poorly planned programs, inadequate
infrastructure and a challenging partnership with the Afghan government, the
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction wrote in its newest
damning assessment of U.S. efforts in the war-torn country. The finding
comes after some 200 SIGAR reports have detailed inefficient, unsuccessful
or downright wasteful reconstruction projects. A recent ProPublica analysis
of the reports found that there has been at least $17 billion in
questionable spending.
We Blew $17 Billion in Afghanistan. How Would You Have Spent It?
Here’s just what the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction found. See for yourself how that money could have been used
at home. Explore the app.
The United States Agency for International Development and a Pentagon task
force were in charge of developing a so-called “extractive” industry in
Afghanistan — basically a system for getting precious resources out of the
ground and to the commercial market. SIGAR called out both USAID and the
Defense Department last year for their failures to coordinate and to
ascertain the ability of Afghans to sustain the project, which
unsurprisingly is not promising. In fact, when international aid stopped
supporting the Afghan office responsible for oversight of the petroleum and
natural gas industries, two-thirds of the staff were fired.
Exploiting these resources, which are estimated to be worth as much as $1
trillion, is pivotal to Afghanistan’s economic future. SIGAR noted that the
Afghan government has shown progress under USAID’s tutelage in regulating
and developing the commercial export of the resources. But the report said
the project was still hampered by corruption, structural problems and a lack
of infrastructure for the mining industry, such as reliable roads. Many of
the mines operate illegally, with some profit going to the insurgency, SIGAR
said.
When it came to individual extractive projects, there was little progress
made, the IG found.
The controversial Pentagon task force in charge of much of the effort, the
Task Force for Business Stability Operations, spent $215 million on 11
extractive programs, but “after operating in Afghanistan for 5 years, TFBSO
left with nearly all of its extractive projects incomplete,” SIGAR found.
Three of the programs technically met objectives, but one of those is of
questionable value at best. The task force built a gas station for an
outrageously inflated cost and in the end it didn’t have any customers. So
while the objective to create the station was achieved, SIGAR doubted it was
a worthwhile venture.
The task force, made up of mostly civilian business experts and designed to
develop the Afghan economy, has come under fire from SIGAR and Congress for
demanding unusual and expensive accommodations in the country, allegedly
punishing a whistleblower, and lacking overall accountability. The Senate is
holding a hearing on the task force next week.
In today’s report, SIGAR highlighted that the task force spent $46.5 million
to try to convince companies to agree to develop the resources, but not one
ended up signing a contract. About $122 million worth of task force programs
had mixed results, SIGAR said.
The Defense Department declined SIGAR’s request to comment on its findings.
In its response, USAID said it has helped Afghanistan “enact
investor-friendly extractive legislation, improve the ability to market,
negotiate and regulate contracts, and generate geological data to identify
areas of interest to attract investors.” Any conclusions and criticisms,
USAID told SIGAR, “need to be substantially tempered by the reality that
mining is a long-term endeavor.”
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Megan McCloskey
Megan McCloskey covers the military for ProPublica. Previously she was the
national correspondent at Stars and Stripes.
Follow @MegMcCloskey
WHY A WEBSITE COMPANY DESPERATELY WANTS TO PUSH ELECTRIC CARS! GOOGLE'S
AWFUL SECRET
Google's owners got an exclusive kickback scam between themselves and the
White House over lithium ion batteries ravaged from war profiteering in
Afghanistan, political rigging in Bolivia and other war incursions.
Google wants to push electric cars to keep it's owners political payola
scams alive.
Deadly, toxic, explosive, a risk to national security, fetus damaging...yet
Google charged full speed ahead into it.. READ THE REPORT TO SEE WHY!
Obama administration to announce efforts to boost self-driving cars
By David Shepardson
Reuters
By David Shepardson
DETROIT (Reuters) - The Obama administration will announce efforts to boost
self-driving cars on Thursday, and President Barack Obama may discuss
advanced transportation efforts in his final State of the Union Address on
Tuesday, according to government officials.
Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
told reporters that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will be in Detroit
to talk about efforts by the Obama administration to speed the introduction
of self-driving vehicles.
"Thursday is huge because this is the White House telling you that the
secretary is going to be here to amplify stuff that is coming out of the
State of the Union, and it's focused on self-driving cars," Rosekind told
reporters in Detroit.
There is not yet a clear legal framework governing their presence on U.S.
roads.
Automakers and technology companies such as Alphabet Inc's Google have
called on regulators to clarify guidelines for introduction of autonomous
driving technology, in part out of concern that a mishap involving a
self-driving car could result in costly litigation.
A Google spokesman said the company will take part in Thursday's
announcement by Foxx. Detroit automakers are also likely to participate.
In December, Rosekind said he opposes a "patchwork" of state regulations on
driverless cars and promised a "nimble, flexible" approach to writing new
rules for self-driving vehicles.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Rigby and Dan Grebler)
Google Seeks Multiple Auto Partners for Self-Driving Car Unit
Dana Hull danahull
John Lippert johnmlippert
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Company wants to begin announcing some joint efforts this year
Google vehicle chief John Krafcik speaks at Detroit meeting
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Google hopes to form partnerships with many automakers and suppliers as it
develops self-driving cars to reduce traffic accidents and expand mobility
for elderly and disabled people, the head of its vehicle project said.
The Alphabet Inc. company wants to announce some of those joint efforts
during 2016, John Krafcik, the Google executive, said in Detroit at an
Automotive News conference Tuesday held in conjunction with North American
International Auto Show.
Almost every automaker “has been in to speak with us, if only to understand
where we are,” Krafcik said. “I don’t know how many we’ll end up having.”
His comments counter speculation that Google would pick a single automaker
as its exclusive partner for self-driving cars. Yahoo Autos reported last
month that Ford Motor Co. would announce a joint venture with Google on
self-driving. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and General Motors Co. have also
said they’re talking with Google about developing self-driving cars.
Google Hires Former Obama Adviser Atkinson to Lead Global Policy
Jack Clark mappingbabel
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Caroline Atkinson was deputy national security adviser
Company faces probes in Europe and U.S. as influence grows
Google has hired former White House Deputy National Security Adviser
Caroline Atkinson to lead its global policy team as the Internet advertising
giant seeks an advocate to deal with regulators around the world.
Atkinson, 63, stepped down in December from her post in U.S. President
Barack Obama’s administration as an emissary to the Group of 20 economies,
negotiating behind-the-scenes on agreements of international scope and
significance. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., currently faces probes
from both federal and European regulators into its businesses, as the
company’s increasing influence over areas like mobile phones and Web search
draws scrutiny.
"Caroline’s an internationally respected diplomat and adviser, and we’re
delighted to have such a thoughtful leader heading our global policy team,"
Google General Counsel Kent Walker said in a statement.
Atkinson also previously worked at the National Security Council, the
International Monetary Fund, the Treasury Department, and investor
consultancy Stonebridge International. She was selected by the Obama
administration in June 2013.
Articles
Afghanistan Waste Exhibit A: Kajaki Dam, More Than $300M Spent and Still Not
Done
Today, 12:30 p.m.
A Senate subcommittee is looking at waste by a Pentagon task force. It would
do well to review the reasons why a major hydroelectric power plant sits
unfinished.
The U.S. Spent a Half Billion on Mining in Afghanistan With ‘Limited
Progress’
Jan. 14, 12:49 p.m.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has labelled
yet another project in danger of failing. This time its U.S. plans to
develop the country’s oil, gas and minerals industries.
We Blew $17 Billion in Afghanistan. How Would You Have Spent It?
Dec. 17, 2015, 11:03 a.m.
The U.S. government has wasted billions of dollars in Afghanistan, and until
now, no one has added it all up. Project after project blundered ahead. And
Congress has barely blinked as the financial toll has mounted. Here’s what
the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found.
Pentagon Task Force: We Want Villas and Flat-Screen TVs in Afghanistan
Dec. 3, 2015, 12:01 a.m.
In its latest salvo, the inspector general dings the controversial task
force for spending $150 million on private housing in Afghanistan, including
fancy meals and round-the-clock bodyguards.
Plot Thickens: Pentagon Now Facing More Scrutiny Over $766 Million Task
Force
Nov. 25, 2015, 12:45 p.m.
Senators were already questioning why the Defense Department was restricting
a government watchdog. Now there are criminal investigations and questions
about retaliation against a whistleblower.
Watchdog Accuses Pentagon of Evading Questions on $800 Million Afghanistan
Program
Nov. 2, 2015, 8:35 a.m.
Despite lacking access to key documents and personnel, the inspector general
determined that nearly $43 million had been spent on a natural gas station
that should have cost closer to $300,000.
Taxpayers Fund Yet Another Unneeded Building in Afghanistan
Sep. 3, 2015, 7 a.m.
The U.S. military shelled out millions before deciding the project was
unnecessary, bringing the total for unused buildings spotted by the
Inspector General for Afghanistan to nearly $42 million.
The Military Built Another Multimillion-Dollar Building in Afghanistan That
No One Used
July 19, 2015, 11:01 p.m.
In its latest report, the inspector general found that the U.S. military
continued to build a $14.7 million warehouse after it knew it wasn’t needed,
echoing an earlier investigation into an unused $25 million HQ.
Behavior of Military Lawyer in Boondoggle HQ Inquiry Under Scrutiny
May 28, 2015, 11:13 a.m.
Several U.S. Senators and military lawyers say they are concerned by Col.
Norm Allen’s attempts to thwart an investigation into why the U.S. Military
built an unneeded luxury headquarters in Afghanistan.
Boondoggle HQ
May 19, 2015, 11:01 p.m.
The $25 Million Building in Afghanistan Nobody Needed
Money as a Weapons System
May 15, 2015, 8 a.m.
How U.S. commanders spent $2 billion of petty cash in Afghanistan
Billions Blown in Afghanistan Reconstruction Spending? (MuckReads Edition)
March 31, 2015, 2 p.m.
Pentagon Finally Identifies the Remains of a POW Lost Since 1942
Jan. 27, 2015, 5 a.m.
Long buried alongside hundreds of unknown U.S. soldiers in the Philippines,
Pvt. Arthur "Bud" Kelder is on his way home after a lawsuit by his family
and an investigation by ProPublica and NPR.
Head of Flawed Effort to ID Missing Soldiers Loses Job
Oct. 3, 2014, 9:32 a.m.
The departure of veteran lab director Tom Holland appears to be the first
leadership change in the Pentagon's overhaul of its identification process.
Pentagon Report Finds Litany of Problems with Effort to Recover MIAs
July 11, 2014, 11:17 a.m.
A draft inspector general report found that the mission lacks basic metrics
for how to do the job – and when to end it.
Pentagon Finally Decides to Dig Up Remains of Long Lost Soldier
July 1, 2014, 11:25 a.m.
After a ProPublica story, the military will exhume a grave in the
Philippines that may hold the remains of Bud Kelder, an American POW whose
family has long been fighting the Pentagon to get him home.
Big Revamp of Pentagon’s Troubled Mission to Find Missing Soldiers Looks a
Lot Like Old Revamp
April 16, 2014, 12:31 p.m.
Without change of leadership throughout, meaningful change could be elusive,
critics say.
Pentagon Overhauls Effort to Identify its Missing
March 31, 2014, 6:20 p.m.
The restructuring promises to address many of the problems laid out in a
recent ProPublica and NPR investigation.
French, Germans Return Fallen GI After Pentagon Gives Up
March 21, 2014, 4:44 a.m.
For more than 50 years, Army PFC Lawrence S. Gordon was mistakenly interred
as a German soldier in a cemetery in France. Then European officials did
what the U.S. military would not, exhuming him and identifying him with DNA.
Four Ways to Really Fix the Pentagon’s Effort to ID the Missing
March 14, 2014, 10:11 a.m.
Changes must go beyond bureaucracy to update the scientific approach and
embrace outside help.
Mining in Afghanistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mining in Afghanistan is controlled by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum,
which is headquartered in Kabul with regional offices in other parts of the
country.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Afghanistan
The future of Silicon Valley may lie in the mountains of ...
The future of Silicon Valley's technological prowess may well lie in the
war-scarred mountains and salt flats of Western Afghanistan.
venturebeat.com/2014/03/20/lithium-afghanistan/
$1 Trillion Motherlode of Lithium and Gold Discovered in ...
A recently unearthed 2007 United States Geological Service survey appears to
have discovered nearly $1 trillion in mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far
bey
mining.com/1-trillion-motherlode-of-lithium-and-gold...
Afghanistan: The Saudi Arabia of Lithium? : Discovery News ...
Lithium, which is used to make batteries for everything from mobile phones
to iPads, could transform the war-torn nation's economy. THE GIST - Nearly
$1 ...
news.discovery.com/earth/afghanistan-minerals-lithium.htm
Afghanistan the "Saudi Arabia of lithium" - Khaama Press (KP ...
The Afghanistan's natural resources are considered to be a silver lining for
the economy of Afghanistan, as the NATO-led international coalition
khaama.com/afghanistan-the-saudi-arabia-of-lithium-1747
Afghans Wary as Efforts Pick Up to Tap Mineral Riches - The ...
With a trillion-dollar cache of oil, gold and other resources underground,
hopes of self-sufficiency in Afghanistan are tempered by worries about ...
nytimes.com/2012/09/09/world/asia/afghans-wary-as-eff...
The War is Worth Waging": Afghanistan's Vast Reserves of ...
"The War is Worth Waging": Afghanistan's Vast Reserves of Minerals and
Natural Gas The War on Afghanistan is a Profit driven "Resource War".
globalresearch.ca/the-war-is-worth-waging-afghanistan-s-vas...
Why Afghanistan's Lithium Is a Big Deal, Even If It Never ...
Why is this significant? Because even if Afghanistan's lithium never leaves
the ground, the sudden, black-swan appearance of a new and potentially
massive ...
popsci.com/science/article/2010-06/why-finding-lithi...
U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan - The New ...
The nearly $1 trillion in untapped deposits are enough to fundamentally
alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, officials said.
nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html
The Spoils of the War on Afghanistan, One Trillion Dollars of ...
Above: An Italian helicopter flies over western Afghanistan during an
international operation. Lithium reserves have been found in the western
part of that country.
globalresearch.ca/the-spoils-of-the-war-on-afghanistan-one-...
Conspiracy Theory- Afghanistan's Lithium Takeover
Conspiracy Theory- Afghanistan's Lithium Takeover. ... The candidate must
support the corporation's wishes, and this time it would be the Afghanistan
mining ...
illuminatiwatcher.com/conspiracy-theory-afghanistans-lithium-ta...
Does Us Have Control Of Lithium Mines In Afghanistan - Prijom
The War is Worth Waging Afghanistan's Vast Reserves of Minerals : The 2001
bombing and invasion of Afghanistan has been presented to World public for
lithium ...
prijom.com/posts/does-us-have-control-of-lithium-min...
There are better places than Afghanistan to mine for lithium.
For years, the mining industry has known that there are vast supplies of
lithium, an element that is crucial to the technology business, sitting
untapped u
slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2010/...
Eyes on Afghanistan as Next Lithium Motherlode | OilPrice.com
Eyes on Afghanistan as Next Lithium Motherlode. ... Lithium is positioned to
play a key role in this mining venue, as Afghanistan is said to have one of
the world's ...
oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Eyes-on-Afghanistan...
China, Not U.S., Likely to Benefit from Afghanistan's Mineral ...
Although the U.S. government has spent more than $940 billion on the
conflict in Afghanistan since 2001, a treasure trove of mineral deposits,
including ...
dailyfinance.com/2010/06/14/china-us-afghanistan-mineral-m...
Afghanistan grants key copper and gold permits | MINING.com
The government of Afghanistan announced Friday its preferred bidders for
three of its four current mineral tenders, with a consortium backed by City
of London banker ...
mining.com/afghanistan-grants-key-copper-and-gold-mi...
Afghanistan's lithium Eureka: A big win for China, or another ...
Since reports emerged this weekend that Afghanistan is home to a massive
deposit of useful minerals, namely lithium, the green news complex has been
...
venturebeat.com/2010/06/14/afghanistans-lithium-eureka-a-...
Dreams Of A Mining Future On Hold In Afghanistan : NPR
Afghan miners in a makeshift emerald mine in the Panjshir Valley in 2010.
Reports suggest that Afghanistan is sitting on significant deposits of oil,
gas ...
npr.org/2012/04/04/149611352/dreams-of-a-mining-f...
Massive Afghanistan Lithium Deposit (As In Batteries) Could ...
A large mineral deposit worth an estimated $1 trillion has been discovered
in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials revealed today. The find could change the
nation's ...
gizmodo.com/5562473/massive-afghanistan-lithium-depos...
US discovers natural desposits of gold, iron, copper and ...
A Pentagon memo claims Afghanistan could become the 'Saudi Arabia of
lithium', a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and
mobile phones.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286464/US-discovers-natural...
Afghanistan's Lithium, Pakistan's Loss - New America Media
Anonymous Posted Oct 2 2010. The electric car projects are just a scam to
get a ceratin group of VC's to control the lithium fields in Afghanistan!
newamericamedia.org/2010/07/afghanistans-lithium-pakistans-lo...
Lack of regulation limits Afghan gem mining | Global Risk ...
The lack of clear industry rules is hampering the growth of Afghanistan's
mining sector. Blessed with mineral wealth, Kabul remains unable to utilize
it.
globalriskinsights.com/2013/06/lack-of-regulation-limits-afghan-...
Afghanistan: War for Lithium? (Mar 11, 2013) - Truth in Media
Afghanistan: War for Lithium? How supposed "War on Terror" and "War on
Opium" morphed into "War for Lithium," mineral essential for building of
nuclear weapons; US ...
truthinmedia.org/2013/AfghanWar.html
Vast $Trillion Mineral Deposits Discovered in Afghanistan ...
'Trillion dollar' mineral deposits have been discovered in Afghanistan
according to US officials. These deposits include vast quantities of iron,
copper, and lithium ...
thenewslink.com/afghanistan-lithium-trillion-dollar-miner...
Lithium in Afghanistan for electric cars: a blessing and a curse
Lithium in Afghanistan, as well as rich deposits of other precious minerals,
could further complicate U.S. goals in the Afghanistan war.
personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/lithium-afghanistan/
Afghanistan's Lithium Wealth Could Remain Elusive
Afghanistan may be the Saudi Arabia of lithium—a key energy storage
medium—but prosperity will not flow easily.
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100616-energy-afghanistan-li...
Lithium in Afghanistan - mom.gov.af
Lithium in Afghanistan Figure 1. Lithium occurrences in Afghanistan on a
low-resolution Landsat image, with major tectonic features, intrusive
mom.gov.af/Content/files/MoMP_LITHIUM_Midas_Jan_2014...
Afghanistan: Mining, Minerals and Fuel Resources
Afghanistan, with a total population of 30,419,928 as of July 2012, is
located in Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran. The
country mostly has an ...
azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=170
Afghanistan copper, lithium worth $1 trillion | Marketplace.org
American geologists have reported that Afghanistan is sitting on $1 trillion
of copper and lithium deposits, a new-found mineral wealth that marks the
country as a ...
marketplace.org/topics/world/afghanistan-copper-lithium-w...
Why Lithium Can't Save Afghanistan : Discovery News
Why Lithium Can't Save Afghanistan. Jun 16, ... After that comes mining
lithium-bearing minerals right out of granites. Until recently, ...
news.discovery.com/earth/can-lithium-really-save-afghanistan...
The ASIA Miner - AFGHANISTAN - Survey of lithium deposits
Central Asian Mining Services (CAMS) has been contracted to assist in a
survey of lithium deposits in Afghanistan. The country is believed to
contain significant ...
asiaminer.com/news/latest-news/5996-afghanistan-survey-...
Afghanistan's trillion dollar curse: lithium - City of Brass
Afghanistan has a national mining law, ... about Afghanistan's trillion
dollar curse: ... work and your post about Afghanistan's trillion dollar
curse: lithium
beliefnet.com/columnists/cityofbrass/2010/06/afghanista...
lithium mining in pakistan - mtmcrusher.com
Why Afghanistan's Lithium Is a Big Deal, Even If It Never Leaves the . ...
Lack of Regulation Limits Afghan Gem Mining | Global Risk Insights.
mtmcrusher.com/environment/lithium-mining-in-pakistan.html
The future of Silicon Valley may lie in the mountains of Afghanistan
Richard Byrne Reilly
Tags: Andrew Chung, Apple, Donald R. Sadoway, editor's pick, Jay Jacobs,
Khosla Ventures, lithium, Lithium Exploration Group, lithium-ion batteries,
Michel Chossudovsky, Tesla, Tesla Motors, top-stories
Above: An Italian helicopter flies over western Afghanistan during an
international operation. Lithium reserves have been found in the western
part of that country.
Image Credit: ISAF Media
The future of Silicon Valley’s technological prowess may well lie in the
war-scarred mountains and salt flats of Western Afghanistan.
United States Geological Survey teams discovered one of the world’s largest
untapped reserves of lithium there six years ago. The USGS was scouting the
volatile country at the behest of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Task
Force for Business and Stability Operations. Lithium is a soft metal
used to make the lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries essential for
powering desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. And
increasingly, electric cars like Tesla’s.
The vast discovery could very well propel Afghanistan — a war-ravaged land
with a population of 31 million largely uneducated Pashtuns and Tajiks, and
whose primary exports today are opium, hashish, and marijuana — into
becoming the world’s next “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” according to an
internal Pentagon memo cited by the New York Times.
The USGS survey report on Afghanistan that detailed the
findings also noted that, in addition to lithium, the country also
contains huge deposits of iron ore, gold, cobalt, copper, and potash, among
many other valuable minerals.
“The mineral wealth there is astonishing,” said professor Michel
Chossudovsky of the Montreal-based Center for Research and Globalization,
who has written extensively on Afghanistan.
A conservative estimate of the riches is $1 trillion. In some circles, it’s
as high as $5 trillion.
Above: A typical lithium “button” cell found in many small electronics.
Image Credit: Rodrigo Senna
In Silicon Valley and beyond, tech companies like Apple, Google, Amazon,
Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Sony, and Tesla rely on continual, and
uninterrupted, access to lithium, as lithium-based batteries are the primary
power storage devices in their mobile hardware.
Without these batteries, MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, Kindles, Nooks, Galaxy
IIIs, Chromebooks, and, yes, Tesla Model S cars would be largely worthless.
If forced to use older, nonlithium batteries, their battery lives would
certainly be much shorter.
The world’s current lithium heavyweight is Bolivia, the biggest exporter of
the element. There, in the swamps and marshlands of the southern region of
the country near where the borders of Chile and Argentina meet, are the
biggest deposits.
Canada, China, Australia, and Serbia also have varying amounts of lithium,
but not as much as Bolivia.
Or apparently, Afghanistan.
Enough to last a lifetime
Depending on who you talk to, the current lithium global reserves are
adequate for at least another generation of lithium-ion battery
manufacturers to produce them.
But not everybody thinks so, and some say the light metal compound may
someday run dry. That could in turn spell trouble for any company whose
business depends on light and portable mobile electronics — unless someone
comes up with an alternative to lithium batteries before then.
The experts VentureBeat interviewed pointed to sharp year-on-year increases
in the demand for lithium. That’s putting heavy pressure on existing
stockpiles.
According to Lithium Americas, a Canadian lithium-mining company with
significant business interests in Argentina, lithium demand will more than
double in the next 10 years, while lithium prices have nearly quadrupled
during the same timeframe.
Tesla, for its part, is in the process of investing up to $5 billion to
build its own lithium-ion Gigafactory in Texas, a plant capable of churning
out 500,000 expensive battery packs a year by 2020 for its line of
zero-emission, all-electric cars.
Above: Tesla predicts that its “Gigafactory” will produce more lithium
batteries (by capacity) in 2020 than the entire global production of such
batteries in 2013.
Image Credit: Tesla Motors
A Tesla spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.
As a potential source to feed that demand, enter Afghanistan.
“At some point, if present trends continue, demand [for lithium] will
outstrip the supply. And again, at some point, the market for lithium-ion
could get so big that it actually affects the supply chain,” said Donald R.
Sadoway, a professor of the Materials Chemistry Department of Materials
Science and Engineering at MIT.
Looking at Afghanistan, Sadoway says the war-ravaged nation, which has no
effective mining infrastructure in place, may well be attractive to the
world’s mining outfits.
“In this regard,” Sadoway, one of the world’s foremost experts on energy
sources, says, “the deposits in Afghanistan could be important.”
Andrew Chung, a venture capitalist with Khosla Ventures in Silicon Valley
who has invested in multiple startups producing alternative batteries, says
lithium-ion batteries are limited in their lifetime cycles, scalability, and
cost. Despite this, Chung says, he can understand how the untapped reserves
of Afghan lithium are now an increasing focus.
“It is an issue of the supply chain, whether it’s Afghanistan or other
[countries]. There is a finite supply, and lithium-ion will continue to be
the [power] choice for the next decade,” Chung said.
Some of the Valley’s biggest and most powerful tech companies either
declined to comment for this story or never returned calls. But they didn’t
deny the importance of lithium-ion batteries.
For instance, an Apple spokesperson declined to comment for this story but
provided VentureBeat with a 2014 “Suppliers List” of the 200-plus vendors it
uses to produce its products. A related post made the Cupertino,
Calif.-based company’s commitment to lithium batteries clear, at least in
the short term.
“Rechargeable, lithium-based technology currently provides the best
performance for your Apple notebook computer, iPod, iPhone, or iPad,” the
Apple post says.
Sony Energy Devices Corp. invented the lithium-ion battery in 1994. It was
hailed as a breakthrough, providing longer battery life and without the
“memory effect” that gradually reduced the effective capacity of previous
types of batteries.
Since then, companies have gradually refined lithium battery technology but
have not succeeded in moving beyond it. Indeed, early Tesla cars are
actually powered by large packs of industry-standard lithium-ion battery
cells — the same type of cells found in many laptop batteries.
And here is where it gets interesting.
Sharply increasing demand
Above: The custom battery pack Tesla uses for its Tesla Model S. Inside are
hundreds of lithium cells.
Image Credit: Tesla Motors
If electric car manufacturers begin ramping up production of lithium-ion
battery-powered cars, the global demand for lithium will skyrocket. This
could potentially come about at the same time for increasing demand for
handheld consumer goods like tablets and laptops, Chung said, thus creating
a perfect storm.
“So you want to start looking at other sources producing it with current
supplies being called into question, if we move more toward production of
electric cars,” Chung said.
Which is why, increasingly, eyes are turning to Afghanistan and its new
purported lithium reserves, a country long referred to as the “graveyard of
empires.” The U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the terror attacks of Sept. 11,
2001, and according to iCasualties, 2,315 American servicemen and women have
been killed there.
Analyst Jay Jacobs of Global X Funds in New York, which has interests
in lithium mining, said demand for the compound is growing, and that
“there are two regions that have been revealed to contain huge lithium
reserves: Afghanistan and Bolivia.”
William Tahil, a respected lithium expert who lives in France and is
the general director for Material International Research, argues that
lithium deposits in Bolivia will at some point be depleted.
Jacobs was sanguine about safely extracting lithium from Afghanistan. He
said political risks there were considerable.
“With that being said, should there be a substantial and sustained increase
in demand for lithium, lithium miners may become increasingly interested in
the country as it has an abundance of the resource,” Jacobs said.
It was the Soviets who first discovered the country’s deposits when they
invaded in 1979. Soviet geologists began mapping Afghanistan’s lithium,
gold, and potash fields but abandoned their efforts after the former
communist superpower pulled out of the country in 1989.
But with a weak and corruption-plagued “central government,” Afghanistan is
now ripe for the picking, Chossudovsky said. Indeed, the country is still
very much divided into fiefdoms, with the Muslim fundamentalist Taliban,
warlords, and drug traffickers controlling large swaths of the country — and
using violence to advance their interests.
“There’s no question the mining companies will go in there. No question.
There’s no real functioning government there to reap the foreign investment
of the mineral deposits. This makes it all the more enticing to the mining
companies because nobody in the government of [President] Hamid Karzai will
be regulating the bonanza of lithium, so they can do what they want,” he
said.
Jockeying for position
Above: A lithium processing plant in Chile. Lithium is typically refined
from vast piles of mineral salts.
Image Credit: Reduse.org
For its part, the U.S. government, which helped locate the lithium deposits
using flyovers with a sensor-filled Lockheed P-3 Orion and teams of
geologists fielding soil samples, knows a potential gold rush when it sees
one. And it has no intention of being left on the sidelines. Especially
since the Chinese are now — and quickly — making deals with Afghan pols for
mineral rights to copper deposits.
The USGS did return multiple calls seeking comment. Nor did the Pentagon.
Despite what some say are the shortcomings of lithium-ion batteries, venture
capitalists and investors continue pouring money into them. Amprius, a
lithium battery maker based in Sunnyvale, Calif., snared a $30 million
infusion round of investor cash in January.
Over at the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C., the Afghans are licking
their lips at the potential lithium and mineral windfall despite the
country’s continued conflict with a resurgent Taliban. What this may
portend for the impoverished and war-torn nation is anybody’s guess. But the
Afghans are playing up the finds — or they were, until recently.
“In recent years, headlines from the Afghan mineral sector have competed to
outdo each other in scale: from the landmark $3 billion Chinese investment
in the Aynak copper concession to the astounding survey work of the U.S.,
Afghan, and British Geological Services estimating anywhere between $1
trillion and $3 trillion in mineral potential, to the historic $11 billion
deal now being finalized with an Indian consortium for the Hajigak iron ore
concession,” said a posting on the Afghani Washington DC website.
Afghanistan’s ambassador to the U.S., Eklil Hakimi, presided over a press
conference at the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C., on March 10, where he
talked about the untapped deposits, along with reps from the USGS and other
U.S. politicians.
But Hakimi, through a spokesman, told me he simply didn’t have the time to
talk.
More information:
Apple
Tesla Motors
Lithium Exploration Group
Khosla Ventures
by VBProfiles