Energy and Minerals
Publications
Here you will find publications, reports and articles produced by Energy and Mineral scientists. For a comprehensive listing of all USGS publications please click the button below.
Methodology and technical input for the 2021 review and revision of the U.S. Critical Minerals List
Pursuant to Section 7002 (“Mineral Security”) of Title VII (“Critical Minerals”) of the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–260, December 27, 2020, 116th Cong.), the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, is tasked with reviewing and revising the methodology used to evaluate mineral criticality and the...
Nassar, Nedal T.; Fortier, Steven M.
Assessment of undiscovered gas resources in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1,407 billion (1.4 trillion) cubic feet of gas in conventional accumulations in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska.
Houseknecht, David W.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Moore, Thomas E.; Rouse, William A.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Craddock, William H.; Lease, Richard O.; Botterell, Palma J.; Sanders, Margaret M.; Smith, Rebecca A.; Connors, Christopher D.; Garrity, Christopher P.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Gooley, Jared T.; Counts, John W.; Long, Joshua H.; DeVera, Christina A.
Coking coal of the United States—Modern and historical coking coal mining locations and chemical, rheological, petrographic, and other data from modern samples
Coking coal, or metallurgical coal, has been produced in the United States for nearly 200 years. Coking coal is primarily used in the production of coke for use in the steel industry, and for other uses (for example, foundries, blacksmithing, heating buildings, and brewing). Currently, U.S. coking coal is produced in Alabama, Arkansas,...
Trippi, Michael H.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Eble, Cortland F.; Hower, James C.
Geochemical data for Illinois Basin coal samples, 2015–2018
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and their collaborators conducted a study of the geochemical properties of coals currently produced for electric power generation in the Illinois Basin in Illinois and Indiana. The study follows from recommendations by an expert panel for the USGS to investigate the distribution and controls of...
Kolker, Allan; Scott, Clint; Lefticariu, Liliana; Mastalerz, Maria; Drobniak, Agnieszka; Scott, Annie
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.
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in Alaska—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten, chap. C of U.S. Geological Survey, Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals
Phase 2 of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) focuses on geologic belts that are favorable for hosting mineral systems that may contain select critical minerals. Phase 1 of the Earth MRI program focused on rare earth elements (REE), and phase 2 adds aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group metals, tantalum, tin...
Kreiner, Douglas C.; Jones, James V.
International geoscience collaboration to support critical mineral discovery
The importance of critical minerals and the need to expand and diversify critical mineral supply chains has been endorsed by the Federal governments of Australia, Canada, and the United States. The geoscience organizations of Geoscience Australia, the Geological Survey of Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey have created the Critical Minerals...
Conceptual framework and approach for conducting a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered uranium resources
This report presents a novel conceptual framework and approach for conducting a geologically based environmental assessment, or geoenvironmental assessment, of undiscovered uranium resources within an area likely to contain uranium deposits. The framework is based on a source-to-receptor model that prioritizes the most likely contaminant sources,...
Gallegos, Tanya J.; Walton-Day, Katherine; Seal, Robert R.
Surficial geochemistry and bioaccessibility of tellurium in semi-arid mine tailings
Tellurium (Te) is a critical element due to its use in solar technology. However, some forms are highly toxic. Few studies have examined Te behavior in the surficial environment, thus little is known about its potential human and environmental health impacts. This study characterizes two physicochemically distinct Te-enriched mine tailings piles...
Hayes, Sarah M.; Ramos, Nicole A
Preliminary geologic map of the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands
IntroductionThis geologic map of the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands is a compilation of information from the literature, integrated to provide a seamless geologic map of the region. The geology shown on sheet 1 covers Cuba, the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico...
Wilson, Frederic H.; Orris, Greta; Gray, Floyd
Rare earth elements in coal and coal fly ash
The rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 elements sharing similar chemical properties. They include yttrium (Y, atomic number 39), scandium (Sc, atomic number 21), and the 15 elements of the lanthanide series, atomic numbers 57 (lanthanum, La) to 71 (lutetium, Lu). Because promethium (Pm, atomic number 61) does not occur in the Earth’s...
Scott, Clint; Kolker, Allan
Hydrologic balance, water quality, chemical-mass balance, and geochemical modeling of hyperalkaline ponds at Big Marsh, Chicago, Illinois, 2016–17
Hyperalkaline (pH greater than 12) ponds and groundwater exist at Big Marsh near Lake Calumet, Chicago, Illinois, a site used by the steel industry during the mid-1900s to deposit steel- and iron-making waste, in particular, slag. The hyperalkaline ponds may pose a hazard to human health and the environment. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in...
Gahala, Amy M.; Seal, Robert R.; Piatak, Nadine M.