Images

The image is from the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP) geological Materials repository.

2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition winners at the annual Connects meeting in Denver, CO alongside sponsors and judges.

2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition winner showing off their poster at the annual Connects meeting in Denver, CO. 

2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition winner showing off their poster at the annual Connects meeting in Denver, CO. 

United States Geological Survey’s Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area Associate Director Sarah Ryker addresses the crowd at the 2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition at the annual Connects meeting in Denver, CO.

2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition winner showing off their poster at the annual Connects meeting in Denver, CO. 

Stair step diagram showing USGS steps towards supporting the strategic exploration and recovery of critical minerals in mine wastes. 

Steps include:

From Maybe to Mineable

Scientists use different terms to communicate the strength of evidence - or uncertainty - for mineable minerals. 

On a scale from less information and higher uncertainty to more information and lower uncertainty:

Critical Mineral Focus Areas in the Conterminous United States Infographic Poster (24" X 36" original size)

The life cycle of molybdenum, from primary material to downstream products.

Geologist collecting samples for analyses related to age, chemistry, mineral composition, and mineralization in the Kuskokwim region along a ridge near Aniak, Alaska.

Geologists discuss observations pertaining to the Kuskokwim region with a view along a ridge near Aniak, Alaska.

Historic Illinois Creek mine produced gold and silver in the 1990’s sits within a broader Pb-Zn-Ag carbonate replacement and porphyry Cu district. The relationship between the various styles of mineralization remains uncertain. This district exemplifies the complexity and needs to characterize mineral resources and the framework geology.

Field work photo from 2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition first place winner Daniel Vega, PhD student at . Here he is pointing to a suspected sheath fold in deformed Cambrian marble during fieldwork. 

Field work photo from 2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition first place winner Daniel Vega, PhD student at Idaho State University. Reviewing the field map on a weathered outcrop of Harrison Summit quartzite, accompanied by dog Jasper.

Field work photo from 2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition third place winner Hunter Broeder, MS student at Colorado State University. He is seen here climbing one of the many 13,000 ft peaks in the study area within the late Pennsylvanian-Permian Crestone Conglomerate member of the Sangre de Cristo Formation. 

Field work photo from 2026 Best Student Geologic Map Competition second place winner Dylan Frawley, PhD student at Colorado State University. Here he is looking for bedding in the Pennsylvanian-Permian Crestone Conglomerate on top of Crestone Peak. 

U.S. Geological Survey geophysicists Ray Kokaly (left) and Todd Hoefen (right) monitor incoming hyperspectral data in the hangar as NASA’s high‑altitude ER‑2 aircraft conducts mineral‑mapping flights over the western United States.

NASA’s ER‑2 high‑altitude research aircraft touches down in Colorado Springs May 11, 2026, after completing a hyperspectral survey flight for the joint USGS–NASA effort to map critical minerals across the western United States.

Graph of U.S. production (in millions of metric tons) of materials from 1900 to 2020, adapted from Materials flow in the United States—A global context, 1900–2020. 

Infographic flowchart summarizing the USGS methodology for technical input to the 2025 List of Critical Minerals. The full methodology is found here: Methodology and technical input for the 2025 U.S.