Rare earth element
The United States Geological Survey is searching southern Afghanistan for rare earth deposits under the protection of United States military forces. Since 2009, the USGS has done remote surveys as well as fieldwork to verify Soviet claims that volcanic rocks containing rare earth metals exist in Helmand province near the village of Khanneshin. The USGS has found an  area of rocks in the center of an extinct volcano with light rare earth elements including cerium and neodymium. It has mapped 1.3 million metric tons of useful rock. This is about 10 years of supply at current demand levels. The Pentagon has estimated its value at about $7.4 billion.