Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the areas and (2) provide useful information to private...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the areas and (2) provide useful information to private...

This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2011 draws upon available information from industry sources, published literature and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) specialists. This summary provides data on exploration budgets by region and mineral commodity, identifies significant mineral discoveries and areas of mineral exploration, discusses government...

Reconnaissance seismic reflection data indicate that Canada Basin is a >700,000 sq. km. remnant of the Amerasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean that lies south of the Alpha-Mendeleev Large Igneous Province, which was constructed across the northern part of the Amerasia Basin between about 127 and 89–83.5 Ma. Canada Basin was filled by Early Jurassic to Holocene detritus from the Beaufort...

No abstract available.

Xenotime occurs as epitaxial overgrowths on detrital zircons in the Mesoproterozoic Revett Formation (Belt Supergroup) at the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana. The deposit formed during diagenesis of Revett strata, where oxidizing metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids encountered a reducing zone. Samples for geochronology were collected from several mineral zones...

The article offers information on mercury, a mineral commodity used in industrial and small-scale gold mining applications. Mercury has been reported to be used for amalgamation with gold since the Roman times. Mercury from cinnabar from Almadén, Spain has been used by Romans and has been continued to be used through the Middle Ages and the Colonial era.

The article offers information on dimension stone (DS) that are quarried as natural rock for a specific size and dimension chosen for its color, strength, durability. Varieties of metamorphic, igneous or sedimentary rocks are used but DS rocks are mainly marble, granite and slate that can be found from Maine to Alabama in the U.S., in the Carrara District of Italy as well as in Greece...

The United States is the world's fourth leading producer and consumer of gypsum. Production of gypsum in the U.S. during 2011 was estimated to be 9.4 Mt (103 million st), an increase of 6 percent compared with 2010 production. The average price of mined crude gypsum was $7/t ($6.35/st). Synthetic gypsum, most of which is generated as a fluegas desulfurization process from coal-fired...

Rhenium, a silvery-white, heat resistant metal, has increased significantly in importance since its discovery in 1925. First isolated by a team of German chemists studying platinum ore, the mineral was named for the Rhine River. From 1925 until the 1960s, only two metric tons of rhenium were produced worldwide. Since then, its uses have steadily increased, including everything from...

In 2011, world lithium consumption was estimated to have been about 25 kt (25,000 st) of lithium contained in minerals and compounds, a 10-percent increase from 2010. U.S. consumption was estimated to have been about 2 kt (2,200 st) of contained lithium, a 100-percent increase from 2010. The United States was estimated to be the fourth-ranked consumer of lithium and remained the leading...

Hydraulic cements are the binders in concrete and most mortars and stuccos. Concrete, particularly the reinforced variety, is the most versatile of all construction materials, and most of the hydraulic cement produced worldwide is portland cement or similar cements that have portland cement as a basis, such as blended cements and masonry cements. Cement typically makes up less than 15...