Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project II (DATAP II) Completed
The Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project (DATAPII) objective is to modernize the application and development of USGS mineral resource and integrated multiresource assessment methodologies and capacity that are applicable at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and national and international in scope.
Science Issue and Relevance
Mineral resource assessments provide government and industry leaders with information about undiscovered resources in terms of potential occurrence, distribution, type, quality, amount, value, and certainty in assessment results. The USGS needs to expand expertise and build additional capacity and methodology to undertake quantitative and qualitative mineral resource assessments. Since the development and wide-acceptance of the 3-Part form of assessment, geospatial technologies and statistical techniques have become fundamental to resource assessment and exploration targeting. These can better integrate mineralizing system concepts into existing USGS assessment methods, as well as provide a foundation on which to build new assessment approaches, methods, and tools. Sustained research, development, and application are needed to continue and expand USGS approaches to qualitative and quantitative mineral resource and integrated multiresource assessments.
Methodology to Address Issue
This project is an ongoing effort under which project personnel work to maintain and innovate USGS capacity in mineral resource assessment science. Refinements and reprioritizations are driven by both internal (software update needs, new geospatial technologies, additional geostatistical and coding capacity, minerals-system approach application) and external factors (national priorities related to critical and strategic minerals, green technologies and energy, alternative sources for mineral resources).
- Methods / Data / Tools - research and development into refining existing and developing new assessment methodologies and techniques
- Training - instruction and demonstration of resource assessment approaches through short courses
- Assessments - conduct mineral resource assessments
- Big Data - utilize various statistical, geostatistical, quantitative and qualitative methods, including "Big Data" analytics
and Machine Learning techniques
Since the project's launch in 2015, project personnel have:
- developed a new methodology and implemented an operation Monte Carlo simulation tool,
- created various geospatial tools to facilitate resource assessment,
- made advances towards developing economic filters for evaluating quantitative assessment results,
- explored and applied techniques for quantitative assessments of strataiform mineral deposit types,
- conducted, facilitated, and participated in domestic and internal resource assessment efforts,
- developing training materials and provided training in resource assessment for USGS and cooperators,
- developed mineral deposit inventory databases and descriptive and grade-tonnage models,
- collaborative efforts developed and continued both within USGS and with other country geological surveys and research institutes
- published widely on a range of topics, including quantitative mineral resource assessment methods, mineral and multi-resource assessment results, mineral deposit studies and deposit models, critical minerals, remote-sensing applications to mineral resource assessment, and minerals supply.
Data Releases (see the Data and Tools tab for other data releases)
Hammarstrom, J.M., Zientek, M.L. and Parks, H.L., 2018, Global Mineral Resource Assessment: Summary simulation results for estimates of amounts of copper in undiscovered porphyry copper deposits: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F70K26Q4.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Spatial database for a global assessment of undiscovered copper resources: Chapter Z in Global mineral resource assessment
As part of the first-ever U.S. Geological Survey global assessment of undiscovered copper resources, data common to several regional spatial databases published by the U.S. Geological Survey, including one report from Finland and one from Greenland, were standardized, updated, and compiled into a global copper resource database. This integrated collection of spatial databases provides location, ge
Geology and undiscovered resource assessment of the potash-bearing Central Asia Salt Basin, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan: Chapter AA in Global mineral resource assessment
Mineral resources: Reserves, peak production and the future
Assessment of undiscovered sandstone-hosted uranium resources in the Texas Coastal Plain, 2015
Porphyry copper assessment of the Tethys region of western and southern Asia: Chapter V in Global mineral resource assessment
Phosphate occurrence and potential in the region of Afghanistan, including parts of China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
As part of a larger study, the U.S. Geological Survey undertook a study to identify the potential for phosphate deposits in Afghanistan. As part of this study, a geographic information system was constructed containing a database of phosphate occurrences in Afghanistan and adjacent countries, and a database of potential host lithologies compiled from 1:1,000,000 scale maps. Within Afghanistan, a h
Porphyry copper assessment of northeast Asia: Far East Russia and northeasternmost China: Chapter W in Global mineral resource assessment
Application of U-Th-Pb phosphate geochronology to young orogenic gold deposits: New age constraints on the formation of the Grass Valley gold district, Sierra Foothills province, California
Porphyry copper assessment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides: China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India: Chapter X in Global mineral resource assessment
Assessment of undiscovered copper resources associated with the Permian Kupferschiefer, Southern Permian Basin, Europe
Potash: a global overview of evaporate-related potash resources, including spatial databases of deposits, occurrences, and permissive tracts
Porphyry copper assessment of East and Southeast Asia: Philippines, Taiwan (Republic of China), Republic of Korea (South Korea), and Japan
Below are data releases associated with this project.
- Overview
The Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project (DATAPII) objective is to modernize the application and development of USGS mineral resource and integrated multiresource assessment methodologies and capacity that are applicable at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and national and international in scope.
Science Issue and Relevance
Mineral resource assessments provide government and industry leaders with information about undiscovered resources in terms of potential occurrence, distribution, type, quality, amount, value, and certainty in assessment results. The USGS needs to expand expertise and build additional capacity and methodology to undertake quantitative and qualitative mineral resource assessments. Since the development and wide-acceptance of the 3-Part form of assessment, geospatial technologies and statistical techniques have become fundamental to resource assessment and exploration targeting. These can better integrate mineralizing system concepts into existing USGS assessment methods, as well as provide a foundation on which to build new assessment approaches, methods, and tools. Sustained research, development, and application are needed to continue and expand USGS approaches to qualitative and quantitative mineral resource and integrated multiresource assessments.
Methodology to Address Issue
This project is an ongoing effort under which project personnel work to maintain and innovate USGS capacity in mineral resource assessment science. Refinements and reprioritizations are driven by both internal (software update needs, new geospatial technologies, additional geostatistical and coding capacity, minerals-system approach application) and external factors (national priorities related to critical and strategic minerals, green technologies and energy, alternative sources for mineral resources).
- Methods / Data / Tools - research and development into refining existing and developing new assessment methodologies and techniques
- Training - instruction and demonstration of resource assessment approaches through short courses
- Assessments - conduct mineral resource assessments
- Big Data - utilize various statistical, geostatistical, quantitative and qualitative methods, including "Big Data" analytics
and Machine Learning techniques
Since the project's launch in 2015, project personnel have:
- developed a new methodology and implemented an operation Monte Carlo simulation tool,
- created various geospatial tools to facilitate resource assessment,
- made advances towards developing economic filters for evaluating quantitative assessment results,
- explored and applied techniques for quantitative assessments of strataiform mineral deposit types,
- conducted, facilitated, and participated in domestic and internal resource assessment efforts,
- developing training materials and provided training in resource assessment for USGS and cooperators,
- developed mineral deposit inventory databases and descriptive and grade-tonnage models,
- collaborative efforts developed and continued both within USGS and with other country geological surveys and research institutes
- published widely on a range of topics, including quantitative mineral resource assessment methods, mineral and multi-resource assessment results, mineral deposit studies and deposit models, critical minerals, remote-sensing applications to mineral resource assessment, and minerals supply.
Data Releases (see the Data and Tools tab for other data releases)
Hammarstrom, J.M., Zientek, M.L. and Parks, H.L., 2018, Global Mineral Resource Assessment: Summary simulation results for estimates of amounts of copper in undiscovered porphyry copper deposits: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F70K26Q4.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
- Data
Below are data releases associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 36Spatial database for a global assessment of undiscovered copper resources: Chapter Z in Global mineral resource assessment
As part of the first-ever U.S. Geological Survey global assessment of undiscovered copper resources, data common to several regional spatial databases published by the U.S. Geological Survey, including one report from Finland and one from Greenland, were standardized, updated, and compiled into a global copper resource database. This integrated collection of spatial databases provides location, ge
AuthorsConnie L. Dicken, Pamela Dunlap, Heather L. Parks, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Michael L. ZientekGeology and undiscovered resource assessment of the potash-bearing Central Asia Salt Basin, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan: Chapter AA in Global mineral resource assessment
Undiscovered potash resources in the Central Asia Salt Basin (CASB) of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan were assessed as part of a global mineral resource assessment led by the U.S. Geological Survey. The term “potash” refers to potassium-bearing, water-soluble salts derived from evaporite basins, where seawater dried up and precipitated various salt compounds; the word for thAuthorsJeff Wynn, Greta J. Orris, Pamela Dunlap, Mark D. Cocker, James D. BlissMineral resources: Reserves, peak production and the future
The adequacy of mineral resources in light of population growth and rising standards of living has been a concern since the time of Malthus (1798), but many studies erroneously forecast impending peak production or exhaustion because they confuse reserves with “all there is”. Reserves are formally defined as a subset of resources, and even current and potential resources are only a small subset ofAuthorsLawrence D. Meinert, Gilpin Robinson, Nedal T. NassarAssessment of undiscovered sandstone-hosted uranium resources in the Texas Coastal Plain, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 220 million pounds of recoverable uranium oxide (U3O8 ) remaining as potential undiscovered resources in southern Texas. This estimate used a geology-based assessment method for Tertiary sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain sedimentary strata (fig.1).AuthorsMark J. Mihalasky, Susan M. Hall, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Kathleen R. Tureck, Mark T. Hannon, George N. Breit, Robert A. Zielinski, Brent ElliottPorphyry copper assessment of the Tethys region of western and southern Asia: Chapter V in Global mineral resource assessment
A probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Tethys region of western and southern Asia was carried out as part of a global mineral resource assessment led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The purpose of the study was to delineate geographic areas as permissive tracts for the occurrence of porphyry copper deposits at a scale of 1:1,0AuthorsLukas Zürcher, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Jane M. Hammarstrom, John C. Mars, Stephen Ludington, Michael L. Zientek, Pamela Dunlap, John C. Wallis, Lawrence J. Drew, David M. Sutphin, Byron R. Berger, Richard J. Herrington, Mario Billa, Ilkay Kuşcu, Charles J. Moon, Jeremy P. RichardsPhosphate occurrence and potential in the region of Afghanistan, including parts of China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
As part of a larger study, the U.S. Geological Survey undertook a study to identify the potential for phosphate deposits in Afghanistan. As part of this study, a geographic information system was constructed containing a database of phosphate occurrences in Afghanistan and adjacent countries, and a database of potential host lithologies compiled from 1:1,000,000 scale maps. Within Afghanistan, a h
AuthorsGreta J. Orris, Pamela Dunlap, John Wallis, Jeff WynnPorphyry copper assessment of northeast Asia: Far East Russia and northeasternmost China: Chapter W in Global mineral resource assessment
The U.S. Geological Survey assesses resources (mineral, energy, water, environmental, and biologic) at regional, national, and global scales to provide science in support of land management and decision making. Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about where mineral deposits are known and suspected to be in the Earth’s crust, which commodities may be present,AuthorsMark J. Mihalasky, Stephen Ludington, Dmitriy V. Alexeiev, Thomas P. Frost, Thomas D. Light, Deborah A. Briggs, Jane M. Hammarstrom, John C. Wallis, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Andre PanteleyevApplication of U-Th-Pb phosphate geochronology to young orogenic gold deposits: New age constraints on the formation of the Grass Valley gold district, Sierra Foothills province, California
The Grass Valley orogenic gold district in the Sierra Nevada foothills province, central California, the largest historic gold producer of the North American Cordillera, comprises both steeply dipping east-west (E-W) veins located along lithologic contacts in accreted ca. 300 and 200 Ma oceanic rocks and shallowly dipping north-south (N-S) veins hosted by the Grass Valley granodiorite; the latterAuthorsRyan D. Taylor, Richard J. Goldfarb, Thomas Monecke, Ian R. Fletcher, Michael A. Cosca, Nigel M. KellyPorphyry copper assessment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides: China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India: Chapter X in Global mineral resource assessment
The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with international colleagues to assess undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides. These areas host 20 known porphyry copper deposits, including the world class Oyu Tolgoi deposit in Mongolia that was discovered in the late 1990s. The study area covers major parts of the world’s largest orogeAuthorsMark J. Mihalasky, Stephen Ludington, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Dmitriy V. Alexeiev, Thomas P. Frost, Thomas D. Light, Gilpin R. Robinson, Deborah A. Briggs, John C. Wallis, Robert J. Miller, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Andre Panteleyev, Andre Chitalin, Reimar Seltmann, Yan Guangsheng, Lian Changyun, Mao Jingwen, Li Jinyi, Xiao Keyan, Qiu Ruizhao, Shao Jianbao, Shai Gangyi, Du YuliangAssessment of undiscovered copper resources associated with the Permian Kupferschiefer, Southern Permian Basin, Europe
This study synthesizes available information and estimates the location and quantity of undiscovered copper associated with a late Permian bituminous shale, the Kupferschiefer, of the Southern Permian Basin in Europe. The purpose of this study is to (1) delineate permissive areas (tracts) where undiscovered reduced-facies sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits could occur within 2.5 kilometerAuthorsMichael L. Zientek, Sławomir Oszczepalski, Heather L. Parks, James D. Bliss, Gregor Borg, Stephen E. Box, Paul Denning, Timothy S. Hayes, Volker Spieth, Cliff D. TaylorPotash: a global overview of evaporate-related potash resources, including spatial databases of deposits, occurrences, and permissive tracts
Potash is mined worldwide to provide potassium, an essential nutrient for food crops. Evaporite-hosted potash deposits are the largest source of salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form, including potassium chloride, potassium-magnesium chloride, potassium sulfate, and potassium nitrate. Thick sections of evaporitic salt that form laterally continuous strata in sedimentary evaporite basiAuthorsGreta J. Orris, Mark D. Cocker, Pamela Dunlap, Jeff C. Wynn, Gregory T. Spanski, Deborah A. Briggs, Leila Gass, James D. Bliss, Karen S. Bolm, Chao Yang, Bruce R. Lipin, Stephen Ludington, Robert J. Miller, Mirosław SłowakiewiczPorphyry copper assessment of East and Southeast Asia: Philippines, Taiwan (Republic of China), Republic of Korea (South Korea), and Japan
The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with member countries of the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) on an assessment of the porphyry copper resources of East and Southeast Asia as part of a global mineral resource assessment. The assessment covers the Philippines in Southeast Asia, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Taiwan (Province of ChinAuthorsJane M. Hammarstrom, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Michael W. Demarr, Connie L. Dicken, Stephen Ludington, Gilpin R. Robinson, Michael L. Zientek - Web Tools
Below are data releases associated with this project.