Feral Jundi

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Afghanistan: U.S. Identifies Vast Riches Of Minerals In Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Cool Stuff — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 7:53 PM

     Pentagon officials said that their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni Province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large of those of Bolivia, which now has the world’s largest known lithium reserves.

     For the geologists who are now scouring some of the most remote stretches of Afghanistan to complete the technical studies necessary before the international bidding process is begun, there is a growing sense that they are in the midst of one of the great discoveries of their careers.

  “On the ground, it’s very, very, promising,” Mr. Medlin said. “Actually, it’s pretty amazing.”

*****

     The “Saudi Arabia of Lithium”? Now that makes Afghanistan interesting.  I was aware of the copper deposits, and I have done a little research on gold and gems in Afghanistan, but this is new.  This Lithium find is a big deal and if Afghanistan can get it’s business in order, and actually come up with some mining capability, then they could stand to make a lot of money. This could be their ‘oil’. It could also be their curse, but hey, at least it is something.

     One other point I wanted to bring up was resource hungry China.  These guys are doing all they can to snag as many oil contracts in Iraq, and snag as many mining contracts in Afghanistan(copper).  I sure would like to see the West get into the mining game a little more aggressively there, seeing how we are the ones that have invested so much in this war. Interesting news. –Matt

Edit: 6/14/2010 – For a review on how important Lithium is, check out this story. The factors that will be driving Lithium demand, is our political relationship with Bolivia(which is sketchy at best), the Gulf oil spill and resulting energy policy focus on alternative energy, and our competition with China and the rest of the world over the stuff. That is what makes Afghanistan interesting right now.

Edit: 6/15/2010 – The plot thickens. It seems this news came out just before the mining auction for the Hajigak fields. The Asia Times story claims that the Pentagon wanted to drum up more competition for this auction, because China keeps winning mining contracts. Interesting.

Here is the piece of the story to look at:

The Pentagon memo may have been an effort to attract international interest in the mining sector before the auction in the next few weeks of the 1.8 billion-ton iron-ore field in Hajigak, which could be worth $5 billion to $6 billion, according to the British-based Times. The development of the country’s largest known iron deposit has been hampered by the war and weak institutions.

The memo coincided with a visit to India by Wahidullah Shahrani, the new Afghan minister of mines, to solicit bids for Hajigak after a planned tender was canceled last year because of a lack of international interest, the Times reported. Shahrani was appointed with US backing in January after his predecessor was sacked for allegedly taking bribes from a Chinese mining company – a charge he denies.

Afghan and Western officials want more companies to bid for Hajigak and other deposits to prevent China from gaining control over Afghanistan’s natural resources through bids subsidized heavily by Beijing, the Times said. American and European companies have alleged that underhand methods were used by Beijing to get contracts, it said.

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U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan

By JAMES RISEN

June 13, 2010

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and Blackberries.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.

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Sunday, May 2, 2010

Jobs: Security Manager And Investigation Specialist, Tanzania

   I am not the POC or recruiter for these two jobs, and please follow the links below.  Barrick is a huge mining company, and Buzwagi is the camp and area you will be working at.  Maybe some of our African readers can chime in about this contract or the location?  Good luck and let me know how it goes. (By the way, there might be a chance that the jobs have been filled and they just haven’t taken them down yet.  Either way, I would still send in a resume to be sure.) –Matt

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Barrick

Market Title: Security Manager

Employment Type:Contract

Primary Location:Buzwagi

Shift:Fly In/Fly Out

Site Name:Buzwagi

Requisition ID:2522

Buzwagi Mine in Tanzania is currently searching for an experienced SECURITY Manager.  The position reports to the General Manager, working on a 9/4 weeks roster.

 KEY RESULT AREAS:

Provide leadership to ensure that employees and contractors adhere to safety and environmental standards that exceed worldwide industry practice and any applicable legislative requirements.

·         Collaborate with each of the Departments, to ensure sustained development of a Safe, Healthy & Secure Work Environment on the Mine Site and within the Communities of contact.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Jobs: Manager Global Security

Filed under: Jobs,Management Positions — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 12:07 AM

 Newmont

Manager Global Security 

Job Number:

 090038

Description

Founded in 1921 and publicly traded since 1925, Newmont (www.newmont.com) is one of the largest gold companies in the world.  Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the company has approximately 34,000 employees and contractors, with the majority working at Newmont’s core operations in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia and Ghana.  Newmont is the only gold company listed in the S&P 500 index and in 2007 became the first gold company selected to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.  Newmont’s industry leading performance is reflected through high standards in environmental management, health and safety for its employees and creating value and opportunity for host communities and shareholders. 

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Saturday, September 27, 2008

News: US Mint Suspends Sale of 24-Karat Gold Coins

Filed under: News — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:18 PM

 

     I think this is an interesting story, and we need to talk about it on Feral Jundi.  I don’t want to be an alarmist, but I do think it is important to at least discuss some of this stuff that is on everyone’s mind.  I also think it is relevant to the security contracting industry in a number of ways.  The reason being is that security is directly related to the economy. If the client can’t afford you, then you are a luxury that they will go without or pay peanuts to get something substandard.  The question I have is how will this impact the contracts currently in play overseas? Will they cut back to save a dime in a war zone?  Kind of dangerous, and we’ll see.

    The other factor that is interesting is that we will probably see an uptick in veterans that were trying to get jobs in the civilian industry, that now are wanting to get back into the combat arms trade because of the economy.  They will either try to get private contracts, or re-enlist back into the military.     

    One area that should increase as a result of this stuff are contracts dealing with guarding gold assets or being involved with gold mining expeditions in places such as Africa or South America.  As the value of gold increases, the demand for the yellow stuff will drive up the price and industry will seek it out.  Crime will go up too, as will the danger of handling and transporting of gold.

     We might see more work in places that the companies viewed as too risky to operate in the past, but now make sense because of the potential profits.  You see the same thing with oil or diamonds.    

     Also, it wouldn’t hurt to have some gold in your financial portfolio.  Holding mining stocks, or actually buying gold is a great way to hedge against the dollar.  As you can see, there are a lot of folks out there with the same idea.  Could we see a world wide push to get back on a gold standard, instead of messing around with the various fiat systems? Who knows, but it will be interesting to watch.  If this bail out plan does not work, and the economy collapses, we could see the price of gold sky rocket and the dollar just become more worthless.  Interesting times. 

     Now if you are going to buy gold coins, the ones that I have heard are the best are the Eagle Coins that the US Mint produces.  Even the smaller Eagles would be a good idea, just so you can sell at smaller amounts.  But really, there are all sorts of options with gold coin and bullion. 

     You can even get into gold prospecting, with a small investment in either a metal detector or gold pan/sluice box.  It’s actually kind of fun, but can be a lot of work.  In the US, places like Nevada and Arizona are pretty good for metal detectors.  Internationally, I have heard Australia is pretty thick with the yellow stuff.  In war zones, Iraq is more of an old coin type of place, but Afghanistan is pretty thick with gems and gold.  And then there is Africa, which has always been thick with wars and mineral wealth.  Lots of options out there to help you get through this deal and good luck. –Head Jundi 

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The Gold American Buffalo coin. 

September 26, 2008

US Mint suspends sale of 24 – karat gold coins

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Filed at 3:38 p.m. ET

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Mint is temporarily halting sales of its popular American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can’t keep up with soaring demand as investors seek the safety of gold amid economic turbulence.

Mint spokesman Michael White said Friday that the sales were being suspended because demand for the coins, which were first introduced in 2006, has exceeded supply and the Mint’s inventory of the coins has been depleted.

The Mint had to temporarily suspend sales of its American Eagle one-ounce gold coins on Aug. 15 and then later that month announced sales of the American Eagle coins would resume under an allocation program to designated dealers.

White said the Mint expected to soon start distributing available Buffalo gold coins through a similar allocation program.

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