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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

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Critical Mineral Resources

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

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Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

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Assessments of Undiscovered Mineral Resources

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

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Mineral System Life Cycles

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

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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 secur

Mineral Statistics and Commodity Information

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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

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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.

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News

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From the Seafloor to Outer Space, USGS is on the Case

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New Study Unveils the Secrets of Yellowstone’s Hydrothermal Plumbing

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Media Alert: Low-Level Flights to Image 3D Geology in Western Arkansas

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Publications

Assessing mineral supply concentration from different perspectives through a case study of zinc

Increasing demand for nonfuel mineral commodities has increased concerns regarding the reliability of their supplies. “Criticality” assessments over the past decade have attempted to capture this concern through a set of indicators, the most common of which quantifies the risk associated with market concentration by applying the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) to the world production of a given c
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Energy and Minerals, Mineral Resources Program, National Minerals Information Center

Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials

Demand for critical raw materials is expected to accelerate over the next few decades due to continued population growth and the shifting consumption patterns of the global economy. Sedimentary basins are important sources for critical raw materials and new discoveries of sediment–hosted Mississippi Valley–type (MVT) and/or clastic–dominated (CD) Zn–Pb deposits are likely required to mitigate futu
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Towards a holistic sulfate-water-O2 triple oxygen isotope systematics

Triple oxygen isotope (∆17O with δ18O) signals of H2O and O2 found in sulfate of oxidative weathering origin offer promising constraints on modern and ancient weathering, hydrology, atmospheric gas concentrations, and bioproductivity. However, interpretations of the sulfate-water-O2 system rely on assuming fixed oxygen-isotope fractionations between sulfate and water, which, contrastingly, are sho
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
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Science

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geothermal springs

Integrated Hyperspectral, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies of Yellowstone National Park Hydrothermal Systems

We are researching the subsurface groundwater flow systems in Yellowstone and the relation of these systems to understanding the regional movement of water in a volcanic center. New geophysical data will be integrated with existing data sets from hyperspectral data from Yellowstone's thermal areas and thermal water geochemistry to help define regionally extensive mineral assemblages, the evolution...
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Integrated Hyperspectral, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies of Yellowstone National Park Hydrothermal Systems

We are researching the subsurface groundwater flow systems in Yellowstone and the relation of these systems to understanding the regional movement of water in a volcanic center. New geophysical data will be integrated with existing data sets from hyperspectral data from Yellowstone's thermal areas and thermal water geochemistry to help define regionally extensive mineral assemblages, the evolution...
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Mineral Resource Online Data Catalog

This project makes the digital spatial data produced by the Mineral Resources Program available via a web portal so that users can easily access spatial data for solving scientific and technical problems: the Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data site.
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
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Mineral Resource Online Data Catalog

This project makes the digital spatial data produced by the Mineral Resources Program available via a web portal so that users can easily access spatial data for solving scientific and technical problems: the Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data site.
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Scientist studying a carbonatite dike

Evaluation of Critical Elements in Carbonatites

The project objective is to determine the processes responsible for critical element enrichment in carbonatites and to enhance our ability to identify and assess economic deposits. This project will work at various scales to meet this objective and will primarily focus on deposits within the US or our Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative collaborative Nations Canada and Australia.
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Evaluation of Critical Elements in Carbonatites

The project objective is to determine the processes responsible for critical element enrichment in carbonatites and to enhance our ability to identify and assess economic deposits. This project will work at various scales to meet this objective and will primarily focus on deposits within the US or our Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative collaborative Nations Canada and Australia.
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