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Results from our Program’s research and minerals information activities are published in USGS publications series as well as in outside journals.  To follow Minerals Information Periodicals, subscribe to the Mineral Periodicals RSS feed.

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Minerals Information Publications

2019 MCS report cover

National Mineral Information Center (NMIC) products focus on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials. These products are organized by mineral commodity, geographic area, or monthly/annual statistical compilation.

NMIC Publications

Product Collections

Product collections resulting from previous science activities and external research program grant final reports.

Select Mineral Resources Program (MRP) & Earth MRI Publications, Data Releases, and Webpages Digital Handout

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Select the USB image or button below to open a downloadable and printable handout in .pdf format. The handout provides a select listing of publications, data releases, and websites directly related to the MRP funded science priorities. 

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Filter Total Items: 2294

Barite (Barium)

Barite (barium sulfate, BaSO4) is vital to the oil and gas industry because it is a key constituent of the mud used to drill oil and gas wells. Elemental barium is an additive in optical glass, ceramic glazes, and other products. Within the United States, barite is produced mainly from mines in Nevada. Imports in 2011 (the latest year for which complete data were available) accounted for 78 percen
Authors
Craig A. Johnson, Nadine M. Piatak, M. Michael Miller
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Beryllium

Beryllium is a mineral commodity that is used in a variety of industries to make products that are essential for the smooth functioning of a modern society. Two minerals, bertrandite (which is supplied domestically) and beryl (which is currently supplied solely by imports), are necessary to ensure a stable supply of high-purity beryllium metal, alloys, and metal-matrix composites and beryllium oxi
Authors
Nora K. Foley, Brian W. Jaskula, Nadine M. Piatak, Ruth F. Schulte
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, National Minerals Information Center

Graphite

Graphite is a form of pure carbon that normally occurs as black crystal flakes and masses. It has important properties, such as chemical inertness, thermal stability, high electrical conductivity, and lubricity (slipperiness) that make it suitable for many industrial applications, including electronics, lubricants, metallurgy, and steelmaking. For some of these uses, no suitable substitutes are av
Authors
Gilpin R. Robinson, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Donald W. Olson
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, National Minerals Information Center

Platinum-group elements

The platinum-group elements (PGEs)—platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium—are metals that have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur together in nature. PGEs are indispensable to many industrial applications but are mined in only a few places. The availability and accessibility of PGEs could be disrupted by economic, environmental, political, and social e

Authors
Michael L. Zientek, Patricia J. Loferski, Heather L. Parks, Ruth F. Schulte, Robert R. Seal
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

The discovery and character of Pleistocene calcrete uranium deposits in the Southern High Plains of west Texas, United States

This report describes the discovery and geology of two near-surface uranium deposits within calcareous lacustrine strata of Pleistocene age in west Texas, United States. Calcrete uranium deposits have not been previously reported in the United States. The west Texas uranium deposits share characteristics with some calcrete uranium deposits in Western Australia—uranium-vanadium minerals hosted by n
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Susan M. Hall
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Punctuated sediment discharge during early Pliocene birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology

The Colorado River in the southwestern U.S. provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the origins of a continent-scale river system, because deposits that formed prior to and during river initiation are well exposed in the lower river valley and nearby basinal sink. This paper presents a synthesis of regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and micropaleontology from the southern Bouse Fo
Authors
Rebecca J. Dorsey, Brennan O’Connell, Kristin McDougall-Reid, Mindy B. Homan
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Salton Sea

Ore-forming adakitic porphyry produced by fractional crystallization of oxidized basaltic magmas in a subcrustal chamber (Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China)

Adakitic intrusions are supposed to have a close genetic and spatial relationship to porphyry Cu deposits. However, the genesis of adakitic intrusions is still under dispute. Here, we describe newly discovered intrusive complex rocks, which are composed of ore-bearing, layered magnetite-bearing gabbroic and adakitic rocks in Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China. These Jiamate Complex intrusions have di
Authors
Tao Hong, Xing-Wang Xu, Jungang Gao, Stephen Peters, Di Zhang, Reyaniguli Jielili, Peng Xiang, Hao Li, Chu Wu, Jun You, Jie Liu, Qiang Ke
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Lead and strontium isotopes as monitors of anthropogenic contaminants in the surficial environment

Isotopic discrimination can be an effective tool in establishing a direct link between sources of Pb contamination and the presence of anomalously high concentrations of Pb in waters, soils, and organisms. Residential wells supplying water containing up to 1600 ppb Pb to houses built on the former Mohr orchards commercial site, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, were evaluated to discern
Authors
Robert A. Ayuso, Nora K. Foley
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Environmental characteristics and utilization potential of metallurgical slag

Slag, an abundant byproduct from the pyrometallurgical processing of ores, can be an environmental liability or a valuable resource. The most common environmental impact of slag is from the leaching of potentially toxic elements, acidity, or alkalinity that may impact nearby soils and surface water and groundwater. Factors that influence its environmental behavior include physical characteristics
Authors
Nadine M. Piatak
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Chemical elements in the environment: multi-element geochemical datasets from continental to national scale surveys on four continents

During the last 10-20 years, Geological Surveys around the world have undertaken a major effort towards delivering fully harmonized and tightly quality-controlled low-density multi-element soil geochemical maps and datasets of vast regions including up to whole continents. Concentrations of between 45 and 60 elements commonly have been determined in a variety of different regolith types (e.g., sed
Authors
Patrice de Caritat, Clemens Reimann, David B. Smith, Xueqiu Wang
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Geochemical variations during development of the 5.46 Ma Broadwell Mesa basaltic volcanic field, California

The 5.46±0.04 Ma Broadwell Mesa basalt and associated basaltic volcanic field in the western Bristol Mountains, California, formed a ~6 km2 volcanic flow field with architecture including numerous lava flows, a ~1.1 km2 lava lake, and a ~0.17 km2 cinder cone. The local number of lava flows varies from one along the margins of the field to as many as 18 that are stacked vertically, onlapped by you
Authors
David C. Buesch
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Connecting the Soda–Avawatz and Bristol–Granite Mountains faults with gravity andaeromagnetic data, Mojave Desert, California

The Soda–Avawatz and Bristol–Granite Mountains faults are considered by some to form the northeastern margin of the eastern California shear zone yet their connectivity and extents are obscured by surficial deposits and the estimates of total right-lateral offset from geologic data range from 0 to as much as 24 km. We use gravity and recently released detailed aeromagnetic data to map strands of t
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim, David M. Miller
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center