Afghanistan has been discovered to be sitting atop a whopping $1 trillion worth of rare earths and other metals and minerals.

The idea of the discovery was given to scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) based on 50-year-old geological maps kept by the staff from the Afghanistan Geological Survey. The USGS later conducted airborne missions to confirm the information.

What the U.S. scientists found was a massive treasure trove under Afghanistan that included 60 million tonnes of copper, 2.2 billion tonnes of iron ore as well as 1.4 million tonnes of rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, and lodes of aluminum, gold, silver, zinc, mercury and lithium.

Jack Medlin, a geologist and program manager of the U.S. Geological Survey's Afghanistan project, told Live Science the resources will greatly aid Afghanistan "develop its economy, to create jobs and build infrastructure, as it goes into the future."

One of the poorest top 10 nations in the world, Afghanistan is a landlocked nation located in South and Central Asia. It is the world's 41st biggest nation with 650,000 km of land.

According to the portal therichest.com, the average annual income in Afghanistan is a measly $1,100, the tenth lowest in the world. It has a population of just over 30 million, with an unemployment rate of over 35 per cent.

If the local population get access to the mineral riches and gain jobs from it, they would be able to fight crime and terrorism, apart from being able to feed themselves.

"If you give the population jobs, if they could bring bread to the table, if they had something to defend, then the terrorists, who are very few in number, won't have sway," Said Mirzad, co-coordinator of the U.S. Geological Survey's Afghanistan program, said.

But while Afghanistan is rich in minerals, it has a dearth of support systems and infrastructure such as roads and railroads, access to energy and water, as well as security, that could actually help the country mine those underground riches.

Still Medlin would opt to be positive for Afghanistan's sake. "It's all a big challenge, but it's doable. It won't happen overnight, but it's doable."