Mineral Resources Program
Critical Mineral Resources
Demand for critical mineral commodities is on the rise with increasing applications in consumer products such as phones and tablets. Research and assessment activities address the need for more up-to-date information on the nation's and the world's critical mineral resources.
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Lithium from Source to Sink: Genesis and Evolution of Li Brines and Clays
The purpose of this project is to trace the lithium (Li) geochemical cycle in the Great Basin, with an emphasis on the pathways that lead to the development of lithium clay and brine resources.
Systems Approach to Critical Minerals Inventory, Research, and Assessment
This project supports the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (EarthMRI) by developing a mineral systems approach for defining focus areas. This project is investigating domestic sources of critical minerals in three sequential stages: inventory, research, and assessment.
1) Inventory the abundance of critical minerals in ore, minerals, and processed...
Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) Data Acquisition and Coordination
Project goal is to provide the scientific foundation for the entire Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) to develop a consistent method for prioritizing areas for the new national-scale data acquisition needed to identify undiscovered critical mineral resources. USGS, in coordination with State Geological Surveys, is acquiring new topographic,...
Antimony In and Around the Yellow Pine Deposit, Central Idaho
Project objectives are to document the origin of the Yellow Pine gold-antimony deposit and, by extension, the origin of this deposit type. Our goal is to understand the structural, tectonic, and magmatic setting of the deposit, the character of the ore-transporting fluids, the conditions of ore deposition, and the regional stratigraphic framework and geochemical ore controls of metasedimentary...
Sediment-Hosted Copper Deposits in the Lake Superior Portion of the Midcontinent Rift System
This project is focused on the sediment-hosted copper deposits of the Midcontinent Rift, with three main objectives: 1) describe the ore mineralogy and geochemistry of the White Pine and Copperwood deposits, 2) evaluate whether hydrothermal alteration in footwall rocks can be used as a vector towards ore, and 3) provide a careful scoping study to evaluate whether unconventional platinum-group...
Rare Earth Element Accumulation Processes Resulting in High-Value Metal Enrichments in Regolith
The Southeastern United States contains numerous granites of the type that contain high concentrations of rare earth elements. We are conducting studies of these granites to advance rare earth element (REE) resource identification and assessment by resulting in an improved understanding of the fundamental source rock types, modes and occurrences, and geochemical parameters necessary for the...
Beryllium: Economic Geology, Material Flow, and Global Importance of a Key Critical Mineral
Beryllium (Be) is a critical metal mineral commodity with unique chemical properties, making it indispensable to the computer, telecommunication, aerospace, medical, defense, and nuclear industries. We are studying known deposits of beryllium to determine where undiscovered beryllium resources might be found, analyzing how and where beryllium becomes concentrated in Earth’s crust, gathering a...
Geochemical Signatures and Environmental Impacts of Ore and Trace Mineralization in the Southern Midcontinent
The overall project objective is a comprehensive analysis of the natural and anthropogenic consequences of extensive ore and trace mineralization in the southern midcontinent of the U.S. This will be conducted at two scales: 1) landscape and 2) process-level.
1) Landscape scale using geospatial and machine learning techniques to combine multiple geochemical and geologic data sets and...
Critical Elements in Carbonatites: From Exploration Targets to Element Distribution
Critical elements are essential to the modern economy and have potential supply chain disruptions, but compared to most base and precious metals, little work has been done in understanding ore-grade enrichments. Carbonatites are the primary source of the worlds light rare earth elements and niobium, and a potential source for heavy rare earths, scandium, tantalum, and thorium. Project...
Life Cycles of Byproduct Critical Minerals
Project objectives are to 1) assess the overall life cycle of selected byproduct critical elements tellurium (Te), indium (In), gallium (Ga), and germanium (Ge), 2) perform an assessment of critical element resources and examine the processes and conditions controlling the concentration of byproduct critical elements by deposit type, and 3) improve understanding of the surficial geochemistry...
Critical Commodity Studies, Stillwater Complex, Montana
Scientific research can make our resource assessments of critical minerals more effective. This project focuses on the Stillwater Complex, Montana, which has rocks enriched in platinum-group elements (PGE), chromium, cobalt, and nickel. Project objectives are to update databases, evaluate new mapping techniques, document new styles of mineralization, and document and support research on the...
Alaska Resource Data File
The Alaska Resource Data File (ARDF) site provides descriptions of mines, prospects, and mineral occurrences for individual U.S. Geological Survey 1:250,000-scale quadrangles in Alaska.