The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban also meant the transfer of power over the country's mineral and metal treasures. Afghanistan's untapped mineral wealth includes lithium, which is currently in high demand for making semiconductor chips.
Afghanistan contains precious metals and minerals with an estimated value of $1 trillion, according to the US Gelological Survey (USGS) last January. These mineral resources are considered potentially transformative for the countries that control them.
One of the valuable content is lithium. This material is an important global commodity used to manufacture cell phones and other electronic devices. The demand for lithium has experienced significant growth in recent years.
Quoted from Fox Business, this increase is now increasingly exploding with the COVID-19 pandemic situation which has led to high purchases of electronics to support activities at home. Devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, for example, usually contain semiconductor chips.
Fox Business' Jackie DeAngelis reports that the Taliban are occupying land rich in lithium, a metal that is essential for modern life and has had a major impact on global chip supply shortages.
The shortage of raw materials for chips has had a major impact on technology manufacturing companies around the world due to a number of regulations that had to be implemented during the pandemic, including closing factories. This causes limited supply amid increasing demand.
These deficiencies, among others, greatly affected the automotive sector throughout this year. General Motors, for example, recently announced that it would reduce truck production in North America due to a global chip shortage. In addition, there is Ford which also pulled back the production of its cars in several factories. A number of smartphone manufacturers also feel the same effect.
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"Lithium is very important because it is not only used in chips, but is also used in clean energy technologies including rechargeable batteries," DeAngelis said in the report.
Meanwhile, Henk Van Alphen, CEO of mineral energy source company Wealth Minerals said there will be a 40-fold increase in lithium demand in the next 20-25 years.
Prior to the pandemic, the world's top lithium producer was Australia, which accounted for 52.9% of global production in 2019, followed by Chile 21.5%, and China 9.7% according to the Statistical Review of World Energy.
While China is at the top of the list, it "mines the most" due to its focus on semiconductor manufacturing and battery production.
Again speaking of Afghanistan's mineral wealth, this landlocked mountainous country also contains reserves of copper, zinc, iron ore, chromite, mercury, gems, including enormous and untouched rubies and emeralds, as well as gold and silver.
In addition, many mines in Afghanistan are controlled by local warlords who make profits. The Taliban are believed to have earned millions of dollars from illegal mining.