Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Mineral Statistics and Commodity Information

Information on domestic and international supplies and uses of mineral commodities essential to the U.S. economy and to national security

Learn More

Critical Mineral Resources

Research and assessment activities for current information on the nation and world's critical mineral resources

Learn More

Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

Learn More

Assessments of Undiscovered Mineral Resources

Our scientists study existing mineral deposits in order to understand where potential deposits may occur

Learn More

Mineral System Life Cycles

Studies to promote sustainable development and responsible stewardship of our natural resources

Learn More

Mineral Resources Program

The USGS Mineral Resources Program (MRP) delivers unbiased science and information to increase understanding of ore formation, undiscovered mineral resource potential, production, consumption, and how minerals interact with the environment. MRP supports data collection and research on a wide variety of non-fuel mineral resources that are important to the Nation’s economic and national security.

Mineral Statistics and Commodity Information

minerals information sources icon

Statistics and information on minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy, the national security, and the flow of materials through production, supply chains, recycling and sustainability.

Minerals Information

Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data

Example GIS data layers

Interactive maps and downloadable data for regional and global geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and mineral resources.

USMIN Mineral Deposit Database

Find Data

Science Priorities

We study geologic processes that concentrate known mineral resources at specific localities in the Earth's crust, and assess quantities, qualities, and areas of undiscovered mineral resources, or potential future supply.

Discover Our Science

News

link

USGS Invests Millions in Critical-Minerals Mapping in Alaska

link

Media Alert: The Wyoming State Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey announce low-level helicopter flights in Central Wyoming

link

Media Alert: The USGS and agencies from four states announce low-level airplane flights in the Central Great Plains

View All

Publications

Aeromagnetic expression of the central Nagssugtoqidian Orogen, South-East Greenland

The Paleoproterozoic Nagssugtoqidian Orogen is one of the principal tectonic features related to the assembly of Nuna, extending across Greenland from east to west and forming an orogenic belt separating the North Atlantic Craton on the south from the Rae Craton on the north. In South-East Greenland, the Ammassalik Intrusive Complex (AIC) (∼1910 to 1870 Ma) occupies the central part of the orogeni
Authors
Benjamin J. Drenth, Björn H. Heincke, Thomas F. Kokfelt
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Ediacaran-Ordovician magmatism and REE mineralization in the Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA: Implications for failed continental rifting

Structures associated with Ediacaran-Ordovician alkaline magmatism and the timing of rare earth element (REE) mineralization in the Wet Mountains, CO, were analyzed using field, geophysical, and U-Th-Pb isotope methods to interpret their tectonic setting in the context of previously proposed rift models. The Wet Mountains are known for thorium and REE mineralization associated with failed rift-rel
Authors
Benjamin Patrick Magnin, Yvette Kuiper, Eric Anderson
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

The geometry and kinematics of the latest paleozoic Allatoona Fault, one of the youngest thrusts in the southernmost Appalachian Hinterland, Alabama and Georgia, U.S.A.

The Allatoona thrust fault in the southernmost hinterland of the Appalachian Blue Ridge-Piedmont megathrust sheet is among the latest structures in the kinematic sequence of events along the west flank of the orogen. It is an out-of-sequence, craton-directed thrust fault that cuts metamorphic isograds and earlier thrusts, and it has a nearly linear trace of ≥280 km, making it one of the major thru
Authors
James F. Tull, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Nawwaf A. Almuntshry, Ericka L. McMahan
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
View All

Science

link
Map of Alaska showing estimated mineral-resource potential

GIS Prospectivity Analysis for Critical Minerals in Ore-Forming Systems in Alaska

Alaska is dominated by a history of tectonic events that foster mobilization and concentration of a wide variety of mineral commodities that are critical to the US economy and are vital to national defense, renewable-energy, and emerging electronics technologies.
By
Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center
link

GIS Prospectivity Analysis for Critical Minerals in Ore-Forming Systems in Alaska

Alaska is dominated by a history of tectonic events that foster mobilization and concentration of a wide variety of mineral commodities that are critical to the US economy and are vital to national defense, renewable-energy, and emerging electronics technologies.
Learn More
link
logo for the Space Economy Workshop Series

Space Economy Workshop Series 2023

Technologies to Fill Observation & Capability Gaps for the Off-World Mineral Resource Economy NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are hosting an invitational workshop intended to inform the development of new technologies to detect and assess off-world mineral resources, as well as to identify alignments with advanced terrestrial applications. April 11, 2023 at NASA Ames, Moffett...
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, National Innovation Center
link

Space Economy Workshop Series 2023

Technologies to Fill Observation & Capability Gaps for the Off-World Mineral Resource Economy NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are hosting an invitational workshop intended to inform the development of new technologies to detect and assess off-world mineral resources, as well as to identify alignments with advanced terrestrial applications. April 11, 2023 at NASA Ames, Moffett...
Learn More
link
Open pit rare earth element mine at Mountain Pass, California. Stepped sides of the pit and access for mining vehicles shown.

Multidisciplinary Investigations of REE Mineralization at Mountain Pass and in the Southeast Mojave Desert, California

In this time of increased focus on renewable energy technologies, rare earth elements (REEs) are of critical importance. For example, neodymium (Nd) is a REE used in the generator and motor magnets of wind turbines and electric vehicles. Reliance on REE imports puts the U.S. at high risk for supply disruption. The project will integrate geology, geophysics, petrology, geochronology, and economic...
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
link

Multidisciplinary Investigations of REE Mineralization at Mountain Pass and in the Southeast Mojave Desert, California

In this time of increased focus on renewable energy technologies, rare earth elements (REEs) are of critical importance. For example, neodymium (Nd) is a REE used in the generator and motor magnets of wind turbines and electric vehicles. Reliance on REE imports puts the U.S. at high risk for supply disruption. The project will integrate geology, geophysics, petrology, geochronology, and economic...
Learn More
View All