Christian Science Monitor: Could natural gas transform Afghanistan?

Three years ago, the U.S. Geological Survey said some of the resources in Afghanistan could transform an economy normally dependent on illicit narcotics. With this year's pivotal drawdown of international forces, how a post-war government handles those reserves could determine its future.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said opium, a heroin precursor, represents the equivalent of roughly half of Afghanistan's gross domestic product. A 2011 study by the USGS, however, found natural resources could "completely" transform the nation's economy.

USGS studied two dozen reserve formations in Afghanistan and found "giant" deposits of copper and cobalt near Kabul, gold in the south of the country and rare-earth elements in parts of Helmand province.

Last year, the Afghan Ministry of Mines launched a seismic survey in Herat and Badghis provinces. Working alongside Canadian energy company Terraseis Trading Ltd. and the U.S. Defense Department, the ministry said it was examining the reserve potential in the region's Kushka basin, near the border with gas-rich Turkmenistan. MORE

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