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Mineral Statistics and Commodity Information

Information on domestic and international supplies and uses of mineral commodities essential to the U.S. economy and to national security

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Critical Mineral Resources

Research and assessment activities for current information on the nation and world's critical mineral resources

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Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

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Assessments of Undiscovered Mineral Resources

Our scientists study existing mineral deposits in order to understand where potential deposits may occur

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Mineral System Life Cycles

Studies to promote sustainable development and responsible stewardship of our natural resources

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Mineral Resources Program

The USGS Mineral Resources Program (MRP) delivers unbiased science and information to increase understanding of ore formation, undiscovered mineral resource potential, production, consumption, and how minerals interact with the environment. MRP supports data collection and research on a wide variety of non-fuel mineral resources that are important to the Nation’s economic and national security.

Mineral Statistics and Commodity Information

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Statistics and information on minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy, the national security, and the flow of materials through production, supply chains, recycling and sustainability.

Minerals Information

Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data

Example GIS data layers

Interactive maps and downloadable data for regional and global geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and mineral resources.

USMIN Mineral Deposit Database

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Science Priorities

We study geologic processes that concentrate known mineral resources at specific localities in the Earth's crust, and assess quantities, qualities, and areas of undiscovered mineral resources, or potential future supply.

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News

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USGS Initiates Environmental Assessment for Energy and Minerals Research Facility in Colorado

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Publications Contribute to Strategic Framework for the Alaska Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

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Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helping Alaska map critical mineral resources

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Publications

Cathodoluminescence response of barite at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures

Rare earth element (REE) enrichment in the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska USA, is comparable to ore grade enrichment in carbonatite-hosted REE deposits[1]. Petrographic examination of textures documents a complex history of crystallization, brecciation, recrystallization, oxidation, and near surface alteration. Barite (BaSO4) is present in most units, including REE-enriched zones, such that it ma
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver Microbeam Laboratory

Graphite as an electrically conductive indicator of ancient crustal-scale fluid flow within mineral systems

Magnetotelluric (MT) imaging results from mineral provinces in Australia and in the United States show an apparent spatial relationship between crustal-scale electrical conductivity anomalies and major magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide-apatite/iron oxide-copper-gold (IOA-IOCG) deposits. Although these observations have driven substantial interest in the use of MT data to image ancient fluid pathway
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Natural Hazards, Mineral Resources Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Results of automated scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses of rock and stream sediment samples from the Taurus porphyry copper deposit area, Tanacross quadrangle, eastern Alaska

Numerous porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold and epithermal deposits define a belt that extends from Eastern Alaska to western Yukon, Canada. An orientation study conducted near the Taurus porphyry deposit was designed to test methods that require minimal sample collection, preparation, and analytical time to determine the viability of indicator mineral studies as a reconnaissance exploration method.
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Science

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AGGER Project - Immature Tasmanite

Advancements in Geochemistry and Geomicrobiology of Energy Resources (AGGER)

The AGGER project seeks to advance the understanding of factors that indicate and control the sources, generation, composition, stimulation, accumulation, movement, and production potential of petroleum, nuclear fuel resources (e.g., uranium and thorium), and their byproducts as well as the potential for resource recovery from wastes generated during extraction.
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Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Eastern Energy and Environmental Laboratory (EEEL)
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Advancements in Geochemistry and Geomicrobiology of Energy Resources (AGGER)

The AGGER project seeks to advance the understanding of factors that indicate and control the sources, generation, composition, stimulation, accumulation, movement, and production potential of petroleum, nuclear fuel resources (e.g., uranium and thorium), and their byproducts as well as the potential for resource recovery from wastes generated during extraction.
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rainbow

2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow - Geophysical Techniques for Off-World Resource Surveys

USGS is partnering with NASA and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Research and Engineering to increase capabilities in off-world resource surveying. We propose to explore the utility and feasibility of geophysical techniques to characterize potential resources in the near subsurface of the Moon and Mars, improving our ability to detect, map, and characterize in situ...
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Energy and Minerals, Mineral Resources Program, National Land Imaging Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, National Innovation Center
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2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow - Geophysical Techniques for Off-World Resource Surveys

USGS is partnering with NASA and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Research and Engineering to increase capabilities in off-world resource surveying. We propose to explore the utility and feasibility of geophysical techniques to characterize potential resources in the near subsurface of the Moon and Mars, improving our ability to detect, map, and characterize in situ...
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geothermal springs

Integrated Hyperspectral, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies of Yellowstone National Park Hydrothermal Systems

We are researching the subsurface groundwater flow systems in Yellowstone and the relation of these systems to understanding the regional movement of water in a volcanic center. New geophysical data will be integrated with existing data sets from hyperspectral data from Yellowstone's thermal areas and thermal water geochemistry to help define regionally extensive mineral assemblages, the evolution...
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Integrated Hyperspectral, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies of Yellowstone National Park Hydrothermal Systems

We are researching the subsurface groundwater flow systems in Yellowstone and the relation of these systems to understanding the regional movement of water in a volcanic center. New geophysical data will be integrated with existing data sets from hyperspectral data from Yellowstone's thermal areas and thermal water geochemistry to help define regionally extensive mineral assemblages, the evolution...
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