Assessments of Mineral Resources

What are Mineral Resources? 

Mineral resources are a concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous materials in or on the Earth’s crust in such form that economic extraction of a commodity from the concentration is regarded as currently or potentially feasible. 

What are Mineral Resource Assessments? 

Mineral resource assessments evaluate the location, importance, quantity, and (or) value of identified and undiscovered mineral resources within some specified region.   

Assessments of mineral resources  

• are tools used for projecting the potential for undiscovered domestic and global deposits of minerals such as copper and rare-earth elements; 

• compile information on identified and potential undiscovered mineral resources; 

• provide reliable estimates of the location, quantity, and quality of mineral deposits at regional, national, and global scales; 

• are valuable for land management agencies, land-use planners, and decision-makers in evaluating the economic potential of areas where assessments have been completed; 

• represent a snapshot in time. 

How are Mineral Resource Assessments Used?  

Historically, following the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, many assessments were done to evaluate the mineral resources of lands considered for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Assessments of National Forests, Bureau of Land Management Resource Areas, and other specific tracts of land provide information for land managers for decision making on land use.  

Today, land management agencies, industry and the public use this mineral resource information to help project future resource development and make informed decisions. 

USGS Work on Mineral Resource Assessments 

USGS mineral resource assessments have been done at national, regional, and global scales.  Some assessments consider all possible mineral resources within a study area; others target specific types of mineral commodities.  A 1990’s USGS National Mineral Resource Assessment considered the domestic resources of copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc. Assessments have also been made for other countries, such as Costa Rica and Afghanistan. The major types of mineral deposits that host copper, potash, and platinum-group elements were evaluated on a global-scale.  

Assessments compile information on identified mineral resources (resources for which location, grade, quality, and quantity are known or estimated from specific geologic evidence) as well as potential undiscovered mineral resources (resources, the existence of which are only postulated based on available geologic information). 

Range of Mineral Resource Assessment Types 

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Bringing Assessments into the 21st Century 

Mineral resource assessments represent a snapshot in time with the data and technologies available. As new methods become available and resource development evolves, many areas warrant an updated evaluation.  

USGS is evaluating how to: 

• improve the efficiency of how assessments are conducted,  

• develop mineral deposit models describing a group of mineral deposits having similar characteristics, 

• train the next generation of economic geologists and data scientists, and 

• partner with other agencies to develop modern technologies for mineral assessments.