Minerals Science Team Active
Sampling in the Animas River, Colorado
The Minerals Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from mineral resource activities including, transportation, storage, extraction and waste management. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified the science produced by this team can inform how to economically and effectively minimize exposures by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants.
Mineral mining is an essential part of a healthy economy. U.S. mines produced an estimated $75.2 billion in nonfuel minerals during 2017 including industrial minerals, aggregates, and metals. The mining industry and government regulators work together to prevent the release of contaminants such as metals into the environment from mining activities.
The USGS Minerals Integrated Science Team (IST), a part of the Environmental Health Program, in the Ecosystems Mission Area focuses on the lifecycle of metals and radionuclides in the environment to inform best management practices for waste materials associated with mineral extraction including transportation, storage, recycling of materials, and other activities where there are perceived or actual hazards from contaminant exposures originating from mineral resource activities.
The team works to distinguish naturally sourced toxicants in the environment from those that may originate from mineral resource activities. They use this information to understand fish, wildlife, and human exposure and to determine If their are health risks upon exposure. If health risks are identified, this Team will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants. The team also directly addresses the 2012 DOI Record of Decision to understand actual versus perceived risks due to uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region. Much of this work is driven by concerns over potential mining impacts to the Grand Canyon, its natural resources, and Tribal members.
Research is accomplished at a range of scales, including laboratory-based studies, modeling, and targeted field studies in watersheds across the Nation to collectively deliver science on exposures and risks to wildlife, humans, ecosystems, and water resources. The team is unique in that it bring together geologists, hydrologists, biologists, chemists, microbiologists, ecologists, toxicologists, and geophysicists from across USGS to address this science.
The team provides science to support the utilization and protection of our Nation’s resources.
- Identify hydrologic, geochemical and biological processes that govern the source, transport, and fate of metals and radionuclides as determinants of ecosystem health
- Characterize the geochemical and biological processes governing the environmental fate, exposure, bioaccumulation, and effects of metals to reduce uncertainty and to inform risk assessment
- Characterize transport pathways of mining-related contaminants in abiotic and biotic media to improve understanding of exposure pathways and biological effects of uranium and co-occurring elements related to uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed.
- Develop methods and execute a geo-environmental assessment of developing undiscovered uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf coast uranium province
- Investigate multi-metal exposures, critical minerals, and multi-stressor effects on ecosystems influenced by mineral resource extraction and processing
Uranium in Springs Sampled Near the Grand Canyon Likely from Natural Sources
Processes Controlling Groundwater Quality in Uranium In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Mining
Uranium in Groundwater
Study Reveals Processes that Control Uranium Bioavailability in a Freshwater Snail—Relevance to Aquatic Biota in the Grand Canyon Area
Assessing Impacts to Ecosystems from Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region
Watershed Contamination from Metal and Uranium Mining
U.S. Geological Survey Develops Approach to Assess Baseline Chemical and Radiological Conditions Prior to Uranium Mining near Grand Canyon National Park
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Chemistry data for assessment of the containment pond at Pinyon Plain Mine, 2021
Data used for developing a composite hydrogeologic framework for inclusion in a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered uranium resources in Pliocene- to Pleistocene-age geologic units of the Texas Coastal Plain
Data Compiled on historical water use, spatial land disturbance, aquifer disturbance and uranium produced by In Situ Recovery of Uranium from Sandstone Hosted Uranium Deposits in the South Texas Coastal Plain, USA
Biogeochemical data of water, sediments, periphyton, and macroinvertebrates collected from springs in and near Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (ver. 4.0, October 2022)
Hydrologic and Geochemical Data and Models Supporting Integrated Evaluation of the Captain Jack Superfund Site, Boulder County, Colorado
Data acquired in laboratory experiments conducted with the stonefly Zapada sp. and the ephemerellid mayflies Drunella sp. and Ephemerella tibialis to characterize uptake and surface adsorption after short aqueous exposures to uranium, 2017-2019
Stream discharge, sodium, bromide, and specific conductance data for stream and hyporheic zone samples affected by injection of sodium bromide tracer, Leavenworth Creek, Clear Creek County, Colorado, August 2012
U-Pb age determinations of uraninite by electron microprobe analyses of ore samples from two solution-collapse breccia pipe uranium deposits, Grand Canyon region, northwest Arizona, USA
Survival, growth and reproduction of C. dubia and N. triangulifer to nickel and zinc exposure in natural waters
Soil sample data for four uranium mine sites, Mohave County, Arizona, April and November 2018
Water quality and discharge data from draining mine tunnels near Silverton, Colorado 1993-2015
Chemistry data for assessment of the containment sediment at Pinyon Plains Mine, 2020
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Nitrate-stimulated release of naturally occurring sedimentary uranium
Hydrologic compartmentalization and analytic-element groundwater-flow simulations for a draining mine tunnel
Outlining potential biomarkers of exposure and effect to critical minerals: Nutritionally essential trace elements and the rare earth elements
Interaction of a legacy groundwater contaminant plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 through 2017, Riverton Processing site, Wyoming
Opportunities to improve water quality during abandoned mine-tunnel reclamation
Geoenvironmental model for roll-type uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf Coast
Laboratory simulation of groundwater along uranium-mining-affected flow paths near the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
Gravity surveys for estimating possible width of enhanced porosity zones across structures on the Coconino Plateau, Coconino County, north-central Arizona
Development and description of a composite hydrogeologic framework for inclusion in a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered uranium resources in Pliocene- to Pleistocene-age geologic units of the Texas Coastal Plain
A methodology to assess the historical environmental footprint of in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium: A demonstration in the Goliad Sand in the Texas Coastal Plain, USA
Numerical modelling of mine pollution to inform remediation decision-making in watersheds
Quantification of metal loading using tracer dilution and instantaneous synoptic sampling and importance of diel cycling in Leavenworth Creek, Clear Creek County, Colorado, 2012
- Overview
The Minerals Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from mineral resource activities including, transportation, storage, extraction and waste management. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified the science produced by this team can inform how to economically and effectively minimize exposures by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants.
Mineral mining is an essential part of a healthy economy. U.S. mines produced an estimated $75.2 billion in nonfuel minerals during 2017 including industrial minerals, aggregates, and metals. The mining industry and government regulators work together to prevent the release of contaminants such as metals into the environment from mining activities.
The USGS Minerals Integrated Science Team (IST), a part of the Environmental Health Program, in the Ecosystems Mission Area focuses on the lifecycle of metals and radionuclides in the environment to inform best management practices for waste materials associated with mineral extraction including transportation, storage, recycling of materials, and other activities where there are perceived or actual hazards from contaminant exposures originating from mineral resource activities.
The team works to distinguish naturally sourced toxicants in the environment from those that may originate from mineral resource activities. They use this information to understand fish, wildlife, and human exposure and to determine If their are health risks upon exposure. If health risks are identified, this Team will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants. The team also directly addresses the 2012 DOI Record of Decision to understand actual versus perceived risks due to uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region. Much of this work is driven by concerns over potential mining impacts to the Grand Canyon, its natural resources, and Tribal members.
Research is accomplished at a range of scales, including laboratory-based studies, modeling, and targeted field studies in watersheds across the Nation to collectively deliver science on exposures and risks to wildlife, humans, ecosystems, and water resources. The team is unique in that it bring together geologists, hydrologists, biologists, chemists, microbiologists, ecologists, toxicologists, and geophysicists from across USGS to address this science.
The team provides science to support the utilization and protection of our Nation’s resources.
- Identify hydrologic, geochemical and biological processes that govern the source, transport, and fate of metals and radionuclides as determinants of ecosystem health
- Characterize the geochemical and biological processes governing the environmental fate, exposure, bioaccumulation, and effects of metals to reduce uncertainty and to inform risk assessment
- Characterize transport pathways of mining-related contaminants in abiotic and biotic media to improve understanding of exposure pathways and biological effects of uranium and co-occurring elements related to uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed.
- Develop methods and execute a geo-environmental assessment of developing undiscovered uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf coast uranium province
- Investigate multi-metal exposures, critical minerals, and multi-stressor effects on ecosystems influenced by mineral resource extraction and processing
- Science
Uranium in Springs Sampled Near the Grand Canyon Likely from Natural Sources
Scientists measured nine naturally occurring elements including uranium at 37 spring sites in the Grand Canyon area to establish baseline conditions and to understand the sources of uranium to local springs. Scientists found relatively greater concentrations of uranium at 6 of the 37 springs. A comprehensive geochemical analysis coupled with an understanding of the flow patterns in the area...Processes Controlling Groundwater Quality in Uranium In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Mining
The project's primary objective is to evaluate the reducing capacity of an aquifer down-gradient of a roll-front ore zone to assess the mobility of uranium and other associated elements (e.g. arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, and sulfur). Assessing the reducing capacity of the aquifer requires characterization of the mineralogy, geochemistry, and microbiology and their variation across the aquifer.Uranium in Groundwater
The Issue: Groundwater monitoring in northeastern Washington State has shown elevated levels of naturally occurring uranium in several community water systems and in private wells. A better understanding of the occurrence of uranium in groundwater along with outreach products that communicate the risk to area residents are important in order to reduce uranium exposure, protect from the toxic...Study Reveals Processes that Control Uranium Bioavailability in a Freshwater Snail—Relevance to Aquatic Biota in the Grand Canyon Area
Scientists refined an existing speciation model to identify key biogeochemical processes controlling dissolved uranium bioavailability to a freshwater snail. This information is important to advance current understanding and prediction of the ecological risk posed by uranium mining to freshwater ecosystems, including federally managed lands such as in the Grand Canyon area.Assessing Impacts to Ecosystems from Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region
The use of uranium is an alternative energy source to petroleum products and some of the United States’ highest quality ore is located on the Colorado Plateau. However, some regions where suitable mining efforts are conducted include areas that are near important environmental resources such as National Parks that provide viewscapes and habitat for wildlife.Watershed Contamination from Metal and Uranium Mining
The goal of this investigation is to provide improved information and tools to support decisions related to management, risk assessment, remediation planning, and mitigation of the effects of hard-rock metal mining and uranium mining on watersheds and ecosystems.U.S. Geological Survey Develops Approach to Assess Baseline Chemical and Radiological Conditions Prior to Uranium Mining near Grand Canyon National Park
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists developed an approach and collected baseline data to quantitatively assess offsite migration of mine-related contaminants and to identify critical contaminant exposure pathways that could result from uranium mining activities in the Grand Canyon region. - Data
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Filter Total Items: 30Chemistry data for assessment of the containment pond at Pinyon Plain Mine, 2021
These data are comprised of measurements of elements (e.g., uranium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, etc.), major anions (chloride, nitrite+nitrate as nitrogen, sulfate, etc.), organic carbon, and general water quality characteristics in Pinyon Plain Mine containment pond water, invertebrate, vegetation and sediment samples, collected in calendar year 2021.Data used for developing a composite hydrogeologic framework for inclusion in a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered uranium resources in Pliocene- to Pleistocene-age geologic units of the Texas Coastal Plain
A previously completed mineral resources assessment of the Texas Coastal Plain indicated the potential for future discovery of uranium resources. Composite hydrogeologic frameworks can be used in geoenvironmental assessments as a tool to understand potential effects of mining operations. Data for a composite hydrogeologic framework are documented in this data release. The hydrogeologic framework fData Compiled on historical water use, spatial land disturbance, aquifer disturbance and uranium produced by In Situ Recovery of Uranium from Sandstone Hosted Uranium Deposits in the South Texas Coastal Plain, USA
This data release contains data on historical water use, spatial land disturbance, and spatial aquifer disturbances related to in situ recovery (ISR) uranium extraction per unit of uranium produced. These data were compiled from published and publicly available references including journal articles, government reports, industry reports and company reporting documents for regulatory compliance andBiogeochemical data of water, sediments, periphyton, and macroinvertebrates collected from springs in and near Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (ver. 4.0, October 2022)
The U.S. Geological Survey is studying uranium and associated trace element bioaccumulation in aquatic invertebrates across a gradient of dissolved uranium concentrations in spring outflow pools and creeks in the Grand Canyon and adjacent watershed. This data release makes available data from sampling campaigns in April 2016, April 2017, and in April 2019. Data collected include: (1) major ion, trHydrologic and Geochemical Data and Models Supporting Integrated Evaluation of the Captain Jack Superfund Site, Boulder County, Colorado
The Captain Jack Superfund site near Ward, Colorado hosts extensive interconnected underground mine workings, which drain via the Big Five Adit. Drainage from the adit has historically been acidic with elevated concentrations of metals. In 2018 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) utilized a subsurface remediation strategy consisting of the installation of a hydraulic bulkhead within theData acquired in laboratory experiments conducted with the stonefly Zapada sp. and the ephemerellid mayflies Drunella sp. and Ephemerella tibialis to characterize uptake and surface adsorption after short aqueous exposures to uranium, 2017-2019
Little is known about the underlying mechanisms governing uranium (U) bioaccumulation in aquatic insects, especially the influence of surface adsorption on the measured U concentrations (Henry et al. 2020). U.S. Geological Survey scientists are conducting experiments to parameterize conditional rate constants for aqueous U uptake and to quantify desorption of weakly bound U from insect's integumenStream discharge, sodium, bromide, and specific conductance data for stream and hyporheic zone samples affected by injection of sodium bromide tracer, Leavenworth Creek, Clear Creek County, Colorado, August 2012
Leavenworth Creek, a tributary of South Clear Creek and Clear Creek near Georgetown, Colorado contains copper, lead, and zinc concentrations that are near to or exceed aquatic life standards. The creek drains the Argentine mining district where mining was active primarily in the early 1900s. In the summer of 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a metal-loading study using tracer dilutU-Pb age determinations of uraninite by electron microprobe analyses of ore samples from two solution-collapse breccia pipe uranium deposits, Grand Canyon region, northwest Arizona, USA
This data release compiles the electron microprobe spot analyses of U, Th, and Pb concentrations in uraninite (U oxide) particles, and corresponding calculated age determinations, measured in samples of ore from two uranium-copper breccia pipe ore bodies, the Canyon (Pinyon Plain) and Hack II deposits. The U-rich samples that were analyzed typify the deposits hosted by solution-collapse breccia piSurvival, growth and reproduction of C. dubia and N. triangulifer to nickel and zinc exposure in natural waters
Survival, growth and reproduction of Ceriodaphnia dubia and Neocloeon triangulifer, metal concentrations and water quality parameters from nickel and zinc exposures in natural watersSoil sample data for four uranium mine sites, Mohave County, Arizona, April and November 2018
This U.S. Geological Survey data release is a spreadsheet containing soil-profile measurements of ambient spring and fall water-potential and water-content conditions, and physical and chemical properties for four mine sites, Mohave County, Arizona, April and November 2018. The four mines sampled in both April and November were Kanab North (native soil and reclaimed soil), EZ2 (native soil), ArizoWater quality and discharge data from draining mine tunnels near Silverton, Colorado 1993-2015
The American Tunnel, the Black Hawk mine, the Gold King mine, the Mogul mine, and the Red and Bonita mine are located in the Cement Creek watershed, tributary to the upper Animas River near Silverton, Colorado. All five sites have tunnels that drain groundwater from abandoned underground mine workings to the surface. This draining water has elevated concentrations of metals and degrades water qualChemistry data for assessment of the containment sediment at Pinyon Plains Mine, 2020
These data are comprised of measurements of elements (e.g., uranium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, etc.) in Pinyon Plains Mine containment pond samples collected in calendar year 2020. - Publications
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Filter Total Items: 49Nitrate-stimulated release of naturally occurring sedimentary uranium
Groundwater uranium (U) concentrations have been measured above the U.S. EPA maximum contaminant level (30 μg/L) in many U.S. aquifers, including in areas not associated with anthropogenic contamination by milling or mining. In addition to carbonate, nitrate has been correlated to uranium groundwater concentrations in two major U.S. aquifers. However, to date, direct evidence that nitrate mobilizeAuthorsJeffrey P Westrop, Pooja Yadav, PJ Nolan, Kate M. Campbell, Rajesh Singh, Sharon Bone, Alicia Chan, Anthony Hohtz, Donald Pan, Olivia Healy, John Bargar, Daniel D. Snow, Karrie WeberHydrologic compartmentalization and analytic-element groundwater-flow simulations for a draining mine tunnel
Draining mine tunnels contribute contaminants to groundwater and surface water, but remediation strategies may be hindered as hydrogeologic characterization and modeling of these heterogeneous features generally relies on sparse data sets. The Captain Jack mine site in Colorado, USA, presents a unique data set allowing for temporal evaluation of groundwater connectivity in the vicinity of an abandAuthorsConnor P. NewmanOutlining potential biomarkers of exposure and effect to critical minerals: Nutritionally essential trace elements and the rare earth elements
Emerging and low-carbon technologies and innovations are driving a need for domestic sources, sustainable use, and availability of critical minerals (CMs)—those vital to the national and economic security of the United States. Understanding the known and potential health effects of exposures to such mineral commodities can inform prudent and environmentally responsible handling and harvesting. WeAuthorsJill Jenkins, MaryLynn Musgrove, Sarah Jane WhiteInteraction of a legacy groundwater contaminant plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 through 2017, Riverton Processing site, Wyoming
The Riverton Processing site was a uranium mill 4 kilometers southwest of Riverton, Wyoming, that prepared uranium ore for nuclear reactors and weapons from 1958 to 1963. The U.S. Department of Energy completed surface remediation of the uranium tailings in 1989; however, groundwater below and downgradient from the tailings site and nearby Little Wind River was not remediated. Beginning in 2010, aAuthorsDavid L. Naftz, Christopher C. Fuller, Robert L. Runkel, John Solder, W. Payton Gardner, Neil Terry, Martin A. Briggs, Terry M. Short, Daniel J. Cain, William L Dam, Patrick A. Byrne, James R. CampbellOpportunities to improve water quality during abandoned mine-tunnel reclamation
In the western United States, bulkheads are constructed to limit drainage from abandoned, draining mine adits and to protect downstream resources from uncontrolled releases of degraded adit water. Although bulkheads improve safety and water-quality conditions at the mouth of the adit, elevated hydraulic pressure behind the bulkhead often causes continuing water-quality problems in new locations. SAuthorsKatherine Walton-Day, James J. Gusek, Connor P. NewmanGeoenvironmental model for roll-type uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf Coast
Geoenvironmental models were formulated by the U.S. Geological Survey in the 1990s to describe potential environmental effects of extracting different types of ore deposits in different geologic and climatic regions. This paper presents a geoenvironmental model for roll-front (roll-type) uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain. The model reviews descriptive and quantitative information derivedAuthorsKatherine Walton-Day, Johanna Blake, Robert R. Seal, Tanya J. Gallegos, Jean Dupree, Kent D BecherLaboratory simulation of groundwater along uranium-mining-affected flow paths near the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
Mining of volumetrically small, but relatively enriched (average 0.6% U3O8) breccia pipe uranium (BPU) deposits near the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA has the potential to affect groundwater and springs in the area. Such deposits also contain base metal sulfides that can oxidize to generate acid mine drainage and release trace metals. In this study, sequential batch experiments were conducted to simuAuthorsCarleton R. Bern, Kate M. Campbell, Katherine Walton-Day, Bradley S. Van GosenGravity surveys for estimating possible width of enhanced porosity zones across structures on the Coconino Plateau, Coconino County, north-central Arizona
The U.S. Geological Survey completed gravity transects in 2015, 2018, and 2019 over four features: the Bright Angel Fault, Bright Angel Monocline, Tusayan Graben, and Redlands Ranch Fault Zone in the Coconino Plateau, Coconino County, Arizona, to determine if the existence and width of high porosity (low density) zones could be inferred from the resulting gravity contrasts, which could be used toAuthorsLibby M. WildermuthDevelopment and description of a composite hydrogeologic framework for inclusion in a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered uranium resources in Pliocene- to Pleistocene-age geologic units of the Texas Coastal Plain
A previously completed mineral resources assessment of the Texas Coastal Plain indicated the potential for the future discovery of uranium resources. Geoenvironmental assessments that include the hydrogeologic framework can be used as a tool to understand the potential effects of mining operations. The hydrogeologic framework for this study focused on the composite hydrogeologic unit of the tractAuthorsAndrew Teeple, Kent D Becher, Katherine Walton-Day, Delbert G Humberson, Tanya J. GallegosA methodology to assess the historical environmental footprint of in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium: A demonstration in the Goliad Sand in the Texas Coastal Plain, USA
In-situ recovery (ISR) has been the only technique used to extract uranium from sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the Pliocene Goliad Sand in the Texas Coastal Plain. Water plays a crucial role throughout the ISR lifecycle of production and groundwater restoration yet neither the water use nor other environmental footprints have been well documented. The goal of this study is to examine historiAuthorsTanya J. Gallegos, Annie Scott, Victoria G. Stengel, Andrew TeepleNumerical modelling of mine pollution to inform remediation decision-making in watersheds
Prioritisation of mine pollution sources for remediation is a key challenge facing environmental managers. This paper presents a numerical modelling methodology to evaluate potential improvements in stream water quality from remediation of important mine pollution sources. High spatial resolution synoptic sampling data from a Welsh watershed were used to calibrate the OTIS solute transport model.AuthorsPatrick Byrne, Patrizia Onnis, Robert L. Runkel, Ilaria Frau, Sarah F. L. Lynch, Aaron M. L. Brown, Iain Robertson, Paul EdwardsQuantification of metal loading using tracer dilution and instantaneous synoptic sampling and importance of diel cycling in Leavenworth Creek, Clear Creek County, Colorado, 2012
Leavenworth Creek, a tributary of South Clear Creek and Clear Creek near Georgetown, Colorado, contains copper, lead, and zinc at concentrations close to or in excess of aquatic-life standards. In the summer of 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, conducted monitoring toAuthorsKatherine Walton-Day, Robert L. Runkel, Christin D. Smith, Briant A. Kimball