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
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Biomass accrual and trace-element concentrations in water and periphytic algae at select locations in the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers, Montana, 2015
Brecchia pipe uranium mine bird survey data, Grand Canyon region, 2014-2015
Hydrologic reconnaissance to identify areas of emergent groundwater, Mineral Creek, near Silverton, Colorado, June 2020
Mineralogical analyses of drill core samples from the Canyon uranium-copper deposit, a solution-collapse breccia pipe, Grand Canyon area, Coconino County, Arizona, USA
Geochemical and mineralogical analyses of uranium ores from the Hack II and Pigeon deposits, solution-collapse breccia pipes, Grand Canyon region, Mohave and Coconino Counties, Arizona, USA
Vegetation cover and composition data in environments surrounding uranium mines in the Grand Canyon ecosystem, USA
Influence of dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and the cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia)
Hydrologic, biogeochemical, and radon data collected within and adjacent to the Little Wind River near Riverton, Wyoming
Hydrologic, biogeochemical, and radon data collected within and adjacent to the Little Wind River near Riverton, Wyoming
Water-Quality, Bed-Sediment, and Biological Data (October 2016 through September 2017) and Statistical Summaries of Data for Streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Toxicity of aluminum to Ceriodaphnia dubia in natural waters as affected by hardness and dissolved organic matter
Acute and latent effects of zinc on two commonly tested species (Ceriodaphnia dubia and Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Elemental and radionuclide exposures and uptakes by small rodents, invertebrates, and vegetation at active and post-production uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed
Sensitivity of warm water fishes and rainbow trout to selected contaminants
Draft genome sequence of the Mn(II)-oxidizing bacterium Oxalobacteraceae sp. AB_14
Competitive interactions among H, CU, and Zn ion moderate aqueous uptake of Cu and Zn by an aquatic insect
Influence of dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and a Cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia)
Toward sustainable environmental quality: Priority research questions for North America
Toward sustainable environmental quality: Priority research questions for North America
Three-layered silver nanoparticles to trace dissolution and association to a green alga
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2016 through September 2017) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Toxicity of aluminum to Ceriodaphnia dubia in low-hardness waters as affected by natural dissolved organic matter
Biota dose assessment of small rodents sampled near breccia pipe uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed
Improved enrichment factor calculations through principal component analysis: Examples from soils near breccia pipe uranium mines, Arizona, USA
- 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.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. Visit Media to see details.Mineral production lifecycle from a natural state through to exploration, permitting, mining, and reclamation. [created by Ben Siebers, please contact for use] 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
- Data
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Filter Total Items: 32Biomass accrual and trace-element concentrations in water and periphytic algae at select locations in the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers, Montana, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey monitored algal biomass accrual and concentrations of metals and other trace elements in stream water and periphytic algae at 3-4 day intervals over a 2-week period at 3 locations within the upper and middle portions of the mining-impacted Clark Fork River, Montana, and at one location on the relatively unimpacted Blackfoot River tributary. This data release makes availaBrecchia pipe uranium mine bird survey data, Grand Canyon region, 2014-2015
Containment ponds at uranium mines in the Grand Canyon region have been suspected to pose an attractive nuisance to local wildlife in this arid landscape. To determine the presence of bird species at uranium mine openings, we surveyed the bird community in the area surrounding the mines repeatedly within one year and summarized species occurrence. We observed 35 species of birds directly using theHydrologic reconnaissance to identify areas of emergent groundwater, Mineral Creek, near Silverton, Colorado, June 2020
Hydrologic reconnaissance of Mineral Creek near Silverton, Colo., was conducted from June 25-27, 2020. Both banks of Mineral Creek and the adjacent hillsides were walked, starting near the ghost town of Chattanooga and proceeding downstream to the confluence of Mineral Creek with the Middle Fork of Mineral Creek. The purpose of this reconnaissance was to identify areas of emergent groundwater onMineralogical analyses of drill core samples from the Canyon uranium-copper deposit, a solution-collapse breccia pipe, Grand Canyon area, Coconino County, Arizona, USA
This data release compiles the X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy analyses of drill core samples collected by the U.S. Geological Survey that were selected to typify the uranium-copper ore bodies of the Canyon deposit. The deposit is hosted by a solution-collapse breccia pipe, in which mineralization exists from about 650 to 2,100 ft (200 to 640 m) below the surface (Mathisen and others, 20Geochemical and mineralogical analyses of uranium ores from the Hack II and Pigeon deposits, solution-collapse breccia pipes, Grand Canyon region, Mohave and Coconino Counties, Arizona, USA
This data release compiles the whole-rock geochemistry, X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy analyses of samples collected from the uranium ore bodies of two mined-out deposits in the Grand Canyon region of northwestern Arizona - the Hack II and Pigeon deposits. The samples are grab samples of ore collected underground at each mine by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) during the mid-1980s, wVegetation cover and composition data in environments surrounding uranium mines in the Grand Canyon ecosystem, USA
This data package contains the final combined field sampling data collected by the USGS July 2013 and July-August 2015 at three active uranium mines (Canyon Rim Mine, Pinenut Mine, and Arizona 1 Mine) as well as two reference sites (Little Robinson Tank and EZ2 Pipe) in northwestern Arizona. Vegetation and soils were assessed by using line-point intersect (LPI) methods and estimates of plant speciInfluence of dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and the cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia)
This dataset characterizes the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to white sturgeon (~30 days post hatch) and cladocerans (<24 hours old) in waters with varying dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by conducting 96-hour white sturgeon and 48-hour cladoceran copper and zinc exposures in test waters with natural DOC (from pond water) at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 mg/L.Hydrologic, biogeochemical, and radon data collected within and adjacent to the Little Wind River near Riverton, Wyoming
The U.S. Geological Survey is studying the interaction of a contaminated groundwater plume enriched in uranium and other trace elements with water, sediment, and biota along a 3 km reach of the Little Wind River in central Wyoming. The source of the contaminants is from a reclaimed uranium mill site near Riverton, Wyoming. The study is being done in collaboration with the Department of Energy, UniHydrologic, biogeochemical, and radon data collected within and adjacent to the Little Wind River near Riverton, Wyoming
The U.S. Geological Survey is studying the interaction of a contaminated groundwater plume enriched in uranium and other trace elements with water, sediment, and biota along a 3 km reach of the Little Wind River in central Wyoming. The source of the contaminants is from a reclaimed uranium mill site near Riverton, Wyoming. The study is being done in collaboration with the Department of Energy, UniWater-Quality, Bed-Sediment, and Biological Data (October 2016 through September 2017) and Statistical Summaries of Data for Streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Toxicity of aluminum to Ceriodaphnia dubia in natural waters as affected by hardness and dissolved organic matter
Attributes regarding the influence of dissolved organic matter on chronic Al exposure and the effects on Ceriodaphnia dubia survival and reproduction.Acute and latent effects of zinc on two commonly tested species (Ceriodaphnia dubia and Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Data regarding the evaluation of the toxicity of zinc in 1-, 3-, 8-, 24-, and 48-hour exposures with a cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia), and in 1-, 3-, 8-, 24-, and 96-hour exposures with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) on survival and mobility of test organisms. - Publications
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Filter Total Items: 45Elemental and radionuclide exposures and uptakes by small rodents, invertebrates, and vegetation at active and post-production uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed
The effects of breccia pipe uranium mining in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona) on ecological and cultural resources are largely unknown. We characterized the exposure of biota to uranium and co-occurring ore body elements during active ore production and at a site where ore production had recently concluded. Our results indicate that biota have taken up uranium and other elements (e.g., arseniSensitivity of warm water fishes and rainbow trout to selected contaminants
Guidelines for developing water quality standards allow U.S. states to exclude toxicity data for the family Salmonidae (trout and salmon) when deriving guidelines for warm-water habitats. This practice reflects the belief that standards based on salmonid data may be overprotective of toxic effects on other fish taxa. In acute tests with six chemicals and eight fish species, the salmonid, Rainbow TDraft genome sequence of the Mn(II)-oxidizing bacterium Oxalobacteraceae sp. AB_14
Biological Mn(II) oxidation produces reactive manganese oxides that help to mitigate metal contamination in the environment. Here we present the genome of Oxalobacteraceae sp. AB_14, a species of Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) notable for its ability to catalyze Mn oxidation at low pH (5.5).Competitive interactions among H, CU, and Zn ion moderate aqueous uptake of Cu and Zn by an aquatic insect
The absorption of aqueous copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) by aquatic insects, a group widely used to assess water quality, is unresolved. This study examined interactions among Cu, Zn, and protons that potentially moderate Cu and Zn uptake by the acid-tolerant stonefly Zapada sp. Saturation uptake kinetics was imposed to identify competitive mechanisms. Decreasing pH reduced the maximum transport capaciInfluence of dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and a Cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia)
We conducted acute lethality tests with white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and Ceriodaphnia dubia exposed to copper and zinc at dissolved organic carbon concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 mg/L. Dissolved organic carbon had minimal effects on zinc toxicity but did have a protective effect on acute copper toxicity, which was equal to that predicted by the copper biotic ligand model (BLM).Toward sustainable environmental quality: Priority research questions for North America
Anticipating, identifying, and prioritizing strategic needs represent essential activities by research organizations. Decided benefits emerge when these pursuits engage globally important environment and health goals, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, horizon scanning efforts can facilitate identification of specific research needs to address grand challengesToward sustainable environmental quality: Priority research questions for North America
Anticipating, identifying, and prioritizing strategic needs represent essential activities by research organizations. Decided benefits emerge when these pursuits engage globally important environment and health goals, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, horizon scanning efforts can facilitate identification of specific research needs to address grand challengesThree-layered silver nanoparticles to trace dissolution and association to a green alga
Core-shell silver nanoparticles (NPs) consisting of an inner Ag core and successive layers of Au and Ag (Ag@Au@Ag) were used to measure the simultaneous association of Ag NPs and ionic Ag by the green alga Chlamydomonas (C.) reinhardtii. Dissolution of the inner Ag core was prevented by a gold (Au) layer, while the outer Ag layer was free to dissolve. In short term experiments, we exposed C. reinhWater-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2016 through September 2017) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in selected streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to characterize aquatic resources in the Clark Fork Basin and emphasize trace elements associated wiToxicity of aluminum to Ceriodaphnia dubia in low-hardness waters as affected by natural dissolved organic matter
We conducted a series of 7‐d toxicity tests with Ceriodaphnia dubia in dilutions of low‐hardness natural waters, which contained dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations up to 10 mg/L. Stream waters were mixed with well water to achieve 2 target hardness levels (20 and 35 mg/L) and 4 DOC concentrations. Tests with aluminum (Al)‐spiked waters were conducted in a controlled CO2 atmosphere to maBiota dose assessment of small rodents sampled near breccia pipe uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed
The biotic exposure and uptake of radionuclides and potential health effects due to breccia pipe uranium mining in the Grand Canyon watershed are largely unknown. This paper describes the use of the RESRAD-BIOTA dose model to assess exposure of small rodents (n = 11) sampled at three uranium mine sites in different stages of ore production (active and postproduction). Rodent tissue and soil concenImproved enrichment factor calculations through principal component analysis: Examples from soils near breccia pipe uranium mines, Arizona, USA
The enrichment factor (EF) is a widely used metric for determining how much the presence of an element in a sampling media has increased relative to average natural abundance because of human activity. Calculation of an EF requires the selection of both a background composition and a reference element, choices that can strongly influence the result of the calculation. Here, it is shown how careful