USMIN: National Mine Waste Inventory
USMIN, in partnership with the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, collaborates with state geological surveys to compile a national inventory of mine waste features in the United States. This effort supports resource recovery, environmental risk management, and identification of critical minerals in mine waste.
USMIN collaborates with state geological surveys to compile data on mine waste areas, improving understanding of potential above-ground critical mineral resources. The database catalogs mine waste features such as tailings and waste rock piles—remnants of historic and current mining activities—that may contain critical minerals and other valuable metals often discarded or overlooked.
The mine waste inventory captures the extent of the mine waste features and key attributes, including location, size, feature type, volume, mineralogy, and commodity.
This dataset supports critical decisions in domestic policy, land-use planning, and resource management by addressing questions such as:
- How many mine waste features are there in the United States and where are they located?
- How much mine waste material may still contain valuable mineral resources?
- What is the tonnage and grade of these potential mineral resources in mine waste?
- Can reprocessing of mine waste help meet critical mineral demand or fund remediation efforts?
- Which mine waste features pose risks of future environmental contamination based on their composition, characteristics, or location?
This is a task of the USGS Mineral Deposit Database Project (USMIN).
USMIN Mineral Deposit Database
USMIN, in partnership with the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, collaborates with state geological surveys to compile a national inventory of mine waste features in the United States. This effort supports resource recovery, environmental risk management, and identification of critical minerals in mine waste.
USMIN collaborates with state geological surveys to compile data on mine waste areas, improving understanding of potential above-ground critical mineral resources. The database catalogs mine waste features such as tailings and waste rock piles—remnants of historic and current mining activities—that may contain critical minerals and other valuable metals often discarded or overlooked.
The mine waste inventory captures the extent of the mine waste features and key attributes, including location, size, feature type, volume, mineralogy, and commodity.
This dataset supports critical decisions in domestic policy, land-use planning, and resource management by addressing questions such as:
- How many mine waste features are there in the United States and where are they located?
- How much mine waste material may still contain valuable mineral resources?
- What is the tonnage and grade of these potential mineral resources in mine waste?
- Can reprocessing of mine waste help meet critical mineral demand or fund remediation efforts?
- Which mine waste features pose risks of future environmental contamination based on their composition, characteristics, or location?
This is a task of the USGS Mineral Deposit Database Project (USMIN).