they mine copper in new mexico and in colorado. but they are a gigantic firm. and they re a global operation. in south america, they mine copper in chile, peru. in indonesia, they operate the largest gold mine in the entire world, which is also the third largest copper mine in the world, which is also a huge silver mine as well. this is an american company, but the physical footprint that freeport has in indonesia, it isn t just visible from space. it s easily visible from space. it s massive. their mine in papua province in indonesia, is basically a massive upside down mountain. it s almost a half million acres. they first discovered mineral wealth there in the 1930s when it was a dutch colony, by the 1970s, indonesia was an independent country and that
silver mine as well. this is an american company, but the physical footprint that freeport has in indonesia, it isn t just visible from space. it s easily visible from space. it s massive. their mine in papua province in indonesia, is basically a massive upside down mountain. it s almost a half million acres. they first discovered mineral wealth there in the 1930s when it was a dutch colony, by the 1970s, indonesia was an independent country and that mine was one of the biggest open pits in the world. among the many products and byproducts of that mine are of course all that silver and copper and gold. also hundreds of millions of tons of mining waste that they have dumped in the surrounding jungle and rivers. that environmental damage associated with that mine is one of the things that mine is most
still mine copper in arizona and they mine copper in new mexico and in colorado. but they are a gigantic firm. and they re a global operation. in south america, they mine copper in chile, peru. in indonesia, they operate the largest gold mine in the entire world, which is also the third largest copper mine in the world, which is also a huge silver mine as well. this is an american company, but the physical footprint that freeport has in indonesia, it isn t just visible from space. it s easily visible from space. it s massive. their mine in papua province in indonesia, is basically a massive upside down mountain. it s almost a half million acres. they first discovered mineral wealth there in the 1930s when it was a dutch colony, by the
there anything we could have done differently that might have led to a better outcome where we would say, this is all worth it? i don t like bashing on early decisions because circumstances are different. i think you owe it to yourself to look at the sweep of an experience and make some judgments about what you might have done differently. afghanistan, we ignored the economic piece of the equation. we didn t perceive. we spent a lot of effort on rudimentary development, great successes, increasing life span in afghanistan from 45 years to 62 years in such a short amount of time. that s a miraculous thing. we did not engage in basic efforts to develop an indigenous economy. the company is laid deened with mineral wealth. oil wells have within capped since the soviets left. we weren t comfortable with those dirty businesses. as a country we stayed away, waited to see if that would develop on its own. i can t think of a better
afghanistan cannot afford it. it s why we are getting the american press. maybe why we are getting all the american press about afghanistan s mineral wealth. american s need to know they are going to i know it was timed as an announcement. this was as the war is going badly, right before general petraeus testifying before congress, suddenly hearing about a decade old study or a decade study that say there is s a trillion dollars or more of minerals in the mountains. maybe there s a light at the end of the tunnel. it should have been weird to you that the evidence of the mineral wealth were soviet geological surveys. they didn t figure out a way to get rich off it, either. incredible. we are in an alley i have never been in before.