Mineral Resources Program
Publications
Results from our Program’s research and minerals information activities are published in USGS publications series as well as in outside journals. To follow Minerals Information Periodicals, subscribe to the Mineral Periodicals RSS feed.
Minerals Information Publications
National Mineral Information Center (NMIC) products focus on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials. These products are organized by mineral commodity, geographic area, or monthly/annual statistical compilation.
NMIC PublicationsProduct Collections
Product collections resulting from previous science activities and external research program grant final reports.
Global Mineral Resource Assessments
Historical-Federal Government Mineral Exploration-Assistance Programs
U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources ProgramMineral resource science supporting informed decisionmaking
Reconnaissance study of the major and trace element content of bauxite deposits in the Arkansas bauxite region, Saline and Pulaski Counties, central Arkansas
The Arkansas bauxite district, which comprises about 275 square miles (710 square kilometers) of central Arkansas, produced an order of magnitude more bauxite and alumina than the other bauxite districts in the United States combined. Bauxite was mined in the region continuously from 1898 to 1982. These bauxites are laterite deposits, formed from...
Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Choate, LaDonna M.
Dating fault damage along the eastern Denali fault zone with hematite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry
Unraveling complex slip histories in fault damage zones to understand relations among deformation, hydrothermal alteration, and surface uplift remains a challenge. The dextral eastern Denali fault zone (EDFZ; southwest Yukon, Canada) bounds the Kluane Ranges and hosts a variety of fault-related rocks, including hematite fault surfaces, which have...
McDermott, Robert G.; Ault, Alexis K.; Caine, Jonathan
Improved Automated Identification and Mapping of Iron Sulfate Minerals, Other Mineral Groups, and Vegetation using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager Data, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, and Four Corners Region
Multispectral remote sensing data acquired by the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor were analyzed using a new, automated technique to generate a map of exposed mineral and vegetation groups in the western San Juan Mountains, Colo., and the Four Corners Region of the United States. Band ratio results were combined into displayed...
Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Gnesda, William R.; Hofstra, Albert H.
Petrology and geochronology of 1.48 to 1.45 Ga igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri
The igneous geology of the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeast Missouri is dominated by the products of 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old volcanic and plutonic magmatism but also includes volumetrically minor, compositionally bimodal contributions added during plutonism between 1.34 and 1.27 billion years ago. The 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old...
du Bray, Edward A.; Aleinikoff, John N.; Day, Warren C.; Neymark, Leonid A.; Burgess, Seth D. The role of hydrates, competing chemical constituents, and surface composition on CLNO2 formation
Atomic chlorine (Cl•) affects air quality and atmospheric oxidizing capacity. Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) – a common Cl• source–forms when chloride-containing aerosols react with dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5). A recent study showed that saline lakebed (playa) dust is an inland source of particulate chloride (Cl–) that generates high ClNO2. However...
Royer, Haley M.; Mitroo, Dhruv; Hayes, Sarah M.; Haas, Savannah; Pratt, Kerri A; Blackwelder, Patricia; Gill, Thomas E.; Gaston, Cassandra J. Tectonic and magmatic controls on the metallogenesis of porphyry deposits in Alaska
Porphyry Cu and Mo deposits and occurrences are found throughout Alaska; they formed episodically during repeated subduction and arc-continent collisions spanning the Silurian to Quaternary. Porphyry systems occur in continental-margin and island arcs, which are broadly grouped into pre-accretionary or post-accretionary arcs. Pre-Mesozoic...
Kreiner, Douglas C.; Jones, James V.; Kelley, Karen D.; Graham, Garth E. Gondwanic inheritance on the building of the western Central Andes (Domeyko Range, Chile): Structural and thermochronological approach (U-Pb and 40Ar-39Ar)
Tectonics inheritance controls the evolution of many orogens. To unravel the role of the Gondwanan heritage (late Paleozoic to Triassic) over the building of the Central Andes in northern Chile (Domeyko Range), we performed detrital U‐Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar muscovite geochronology along with structural analyses (kinematics and structural...
Espinoza, Mauricio; Oliveros, Veronica; Vasquez, Paulina; Giambiagi, Laura; Morgan, Leah E.; Gonzalez, Rodrigo; Solari, Luigi; Bechis, Florencia LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating reveals cassiterite inheritance in the Yazov granite, Eastern Siberia: Implications for tin mineralization
U-Pb dating of cassiterite and zircon from the Yazov granite (Transbaikalia region, Eastern Siberia, Russia) and cassiterite from spatially associated tin mineralization in the Tuyukan ore district in the Tonod uplift was conducted using in situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. These analyses allow comparison of...
Neymark, Leonid A.; Holm-Denoma, Christopher S.; Larin, Anatoly; Moscati, Richard J.; Plotkina, Yulia Geology and genesis of the Shalipayco evaporite-related Mississippi Valley-type Zn–Pb deposit, Central Peru: 3D geological modeling and C–O–S–Sr isotope constraints
The Shalipayco Zn–Pb deposit, in central Peru, is composed of several stratabound orebodies, the largest of which are the Resurgidora and Intermedios, contained in carbonate rocks of the Upper Triassic Chambará Formation, Pucará group. Petrography suggests that a single ore-forming episode formed sphalerite and galena within vugs, open spaces, and...
de Oliveira, Saulo B; Johnson, Craig A.; Juliani, Caetano; Monteiro, Lena VS; Leach, David L; Caran, Marianna G.N. Hydrogeochemistry in the Yukon-Tanana Upland region of east-central Alaska: Possible exploration tool for porphyry-style deposits
A hydrogeochemical study using high resolution ICP-MS was undertaken at the Taurus and other porphyry Cu-Mo(-Au) occurrences and Ag-Au-Cu (+/- Pb, Zn) occurrences with epithermal-style characteristics in the Yukon-Tanana upland region of eastern Alaska. Surface water samples were collected from 30 sites on creeks that drain known deposits and...
Kelley, Karen D.; Graham, Garth E.
Technical overview of the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)
The Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in response to a Federal directive calling on various Federal agencies to address potential vulnerabilities in the Nation’s supply of critical mineral resources. The primary purpose of this initiative is to identify potentially mineralized areas...
Day, Warren C.
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten
In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of critical minerals, the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was established to identify and prioritize areas for acquisition of new geologic mapping, geophysical data, and elevation data to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework of the United States. Phase 1...
Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Dicken, Connie L.; Day, Warren C.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Drenth, Benjamin J.; Shah, Anjana K.; McCafferty, Anne E.; Woodruff, Laurel G.; Foley, Nora K.; Ponce, David A.; Frost, Thomas P.; Stillings, Lisa L.