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. Also includes final reports submitted by the Mineral Resources External Research Program (MRERP) grant recipients.
Global Mineral Resource Assessments
Historical-Federal Government Mineral Exploration-Assistance Programs
U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources ProgramMineral resource science supporting informed decisionmaking
The Zn–Pb mineralization of Florida Canyon, an evaporite-related Mississippi Valley-type deposit in Bongará district, northern Peru
The Florida Canyon evaporite-related Zn–Pb sulfide deposit, in northern Peru, is one of the largest Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits in South America. Triassic carbonate and former evaporite-bearing rocks of the Pucará Group host the ore bodies that comprise two different styles: (i) predominantly stratabound ore associated with hydrocarbon-...
de Oliveira, Saulo B; Leach, David L; Juliani, Caetano; Monteiro, Lena VS; Johnson, Craig A.
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Lomonosov-Makarov Province, 2008
The Lomonosov-Makarov Province lies in the central Arctic Ocean and encompasses the northern part of the oceanic Amerasia Basin (Makarov and Podvodnikov Basins) and the adjoining Lomonosov Ridge and Siberian continental margins. The Amerasia Basin is thought to have been created in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous by rotational rifting of the...
Moore, Thomas E.; Gautier, Donald L.; Moore, Thomas E.; Bird, Kenneth J.; Pitman, Janet K.
Alaska Geochemical Database Version 3.0 (AGDB3)—Including “Best Value” Data Compilations for Rock, Sediment, Soil, Mineral, and Concentrate Sample Media
The Alaska Geochemical Database Version 3.0 (AGDB3) contains new geochemical data compilations in which each geologic material sample has one “best value” determination for each analyzed species, greatly improving speed and efficiency of use. Like the Alaska Geochemical Database Version 2.0 before it, the AGDB3 was created and designed to compile...
Granitto, Matthew; Wang, Bronwen; Shew, Nora B.; Karl, Susan M.; Labay, Keith A.; Werdon, Melanie B.; Seitz, Susan S.; Hoppe, John E.
Airborne radiometric maps of Mountain Pass, California
Geophysical investigations of Mountain Pass and vicinity were begun as part of an effort to study regional crustal structures as an aid to understanding the geologic framework and mineral resources of the eastern Mojave Desert. The study area encompasses Mountain Pass, host to one of the world’s largest rare earth element carbonatite deposits. The...
Ponce, David A.; Ponce, David A.; Denton, Kevin M.
Resource Assessment Economic Filter (RAEF)—A graphical user interface supporting implementation of simple engineering mine cost analyses of quantitative mineral resource assessment simulations
Economic evaluations of undiscovered mineral resources provide important context in which to consider the results of quantitative mineral resource assessments. The U.S. Geological Survey economic analysis method uses a simple engineering cost model approach developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines that applies mine and mill engineering cost equations...
Shapiro, Jason L.; Robinson,, Gilpin R. Natural hazards and mineral commodity supply: Quantifying risk of earthquake disruption to South American copper supply
Mineral resources, and their mining and enrichment operations, are not equally distributed across Earth. The concentration of mineral supply in certain regions, owing to the geology or geography of the mineral resource, raises the level of risk related to supply disruption. Where mineral production coincides with areas prone to natural hazards,...
Schnebele, Emily; Jaiswal, Kishor; Luco, Nicolas; Nassar, Nedal T. Crustal architecture beneath the southern Midcontinent (USA) and controls on Mesoproterozoic iron-oxide mineralization from 3D geophysical models
Several types of critical mineral-bearing ore deposits in the southern Midcontinent region of the U.S. are hosted in Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks largely concealed beneath Paleozoic cover. Discerning the architecture of igneous intrusions and volcanic centers in the crust is fundamental to understanding the geologic evolution of this vast region...
McCafferty, Anne E.; Phillips, Jeffrey D.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Day, Warren C. USGS critical minerals review
The United States’ supply of critical minerals has been a concern and a source of potential strategic vulnerabilities for U.S. economic and national security interests for decades (for example, see Strategic and Critical Minerals Stockpiling Act, 1939). More recently, with the rapid increase in the types of materials being used in advanced...
Fortier, Steven M.; Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Ryker, Sarah J.; Day, Warren C.; Seal, Robert R.
Geological and geophysical data for a three-dimensional view—Inside the San Juan and Silverton Calderas, Southern Rocky Mountains Volcanic Field, Silverton, Colorado
IntroductionThe San Juan-Silverton caldera complex located near Silverton, Colorado, in the Southern Rocky Mountains volcanic field is an ideal natural laboratory for furthering the understanding of shallow-to-deep volcanic-related mineral systems. Recent advances in geophysical data processing and three-dimensional (3D) model construction will...
Yager, Douglas B.; Anderson, Eric D.; Deszcz-Pan, Maria; Smith, Bruce D.; Rodriguez, Brian D.
Petrology of volcanic rocks associated with silver-gold (Ag-Au) epithermal deposits in the Tonopah, Divide, and Goldfield Mining Districts, Nevada
Miocene calc-alkaline volcanic rocks, part of the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades magmatic arc, are spatially, temporally, and likely genetically associated with precious metal epithermal deposits in the Tonopah, Divide, and Goldfield Districts of west-central Nevada. In the Tonopah mining district, volcanic rocks include the Mizpah...
du Bray, Edward A.; John, David A.; Colgan, Joseph P.; Vikre, Peter G.; Cosca, Michael A.; Morgan, Leah E.
Assessment of undiscovered copper resources of the world, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey completed the first-ever global assessment of undiscovered copper resources for the two most significant sources of global copper supply: porphyry copper deposits and sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits. The geology-based study identified 236 areas for undiscovered copper in 11 regions of the world. Estimated...
Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Zientek, Michael L.; Parks, Heather L.; Dicken, Connie L. China’s domestic and foreign influence in the global cobalt supply chain
In addition to increasing interest in the supply risk of minerals produced in China, there is also concern that China’s efforts to mitigate mineral supply risk—through foreign direct investment—may limit mineral availability for other countries in the short-term (due to production capacity constraints). However, little is publicly known about the...
Gulley, Andrew L.; McCullough, Erin; Shedd, Kim