From the article,
....According to a 2014 report, Afghanistan may possess nearly a trillion dollars’ worth of extractable rare-earth metals locked within its mountains....
just a bit of perspective, that seems like peanuts to me, particularly since we have been casually throwing around a lot more than that like a drunkard at card table.
Rare earth metals are difficult to come by. The US has some in California, but we are forbidden from mining them. (You know, mining is not Green).
Rare Earth metal, among other uses are essential for modern high capacity battery manufacturing. China is corning the market on such things, as well as other metals. They are in every country in southern Africa and South America that mines.
The CCP has a plan and this is part of it.
