Afghanistan

 Washington Post: Rich lode of EV metals could boost Taliban and its new Chinese partners - The Pentagon dubbed Afghanistan ‘the Saudi Arabia of lithium.’ Now, it is American rivals that are angling to exploit those coveted reserves. By Gerry Shih and Lorenzo Tugnoli 

...the U.S. Defense Department...concluded that the vast wealth of lithium and other minerals buried in Afghanistan might be worth $1 trillion, more than enough to prop up the country’s fragile government.