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Publications

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.

Filter Total Items: 2525

Sediment-hosted gold deposits of the world: Database and grade and tonnage models Sediment-hosted gold deposits of the world: Database and grade and tonnage models

All sediment-hosted gold deposits (as a single population) share one characteristic—they all have disseminated micron-sized invisible gold in sedimentary rocks. Sediment-hosted gold deposits are recognized in the Great Basin province of the western United States and in China along with a few recognized deposits in Indonesia, Iran, and Malaysia. Three new grade and tonnage models for...
Authors
Vladimir I. Berger, Dan L. Mosier, James D. Bliss, Barry C. Moring

Mineral commodity summaries 2014 Mineral commodity summaries 2014

Each chapter of the 2014 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest...
Authors
Water Resources Division U.S. Geological Survey

40Ar/39Ar geochronological constraints on the formation of the Dayingezhuang gold deposit: New implications for timing and duration of hydrothermal activity in the Jiaodong gold province, China 40Ar/39Ar geochronological constraints on the formation of the Dayingezhuang gold deposit: New implications for timing and duration of hydrothermal activity in the Jiaodong gold province, China

China's largest gold resource is located in the highly endowed northwestern part of the Jiaodong gold province. Most gold deposits in this area are associated with the NE- to NNE-trending shear zones on the margins of the 130–126 Ma Guojialing granite. These deposits collectively formed at ca. 120 ± 5 Ma during rapid uplift of the granite. The Dayingezhuang deposit is a large (> 120 t Au...
Authors
Li-Qiang Yang, J. Deng, Richard J. Goldfarb, Jiahua Zhang, Bang-Fei Gao, Zhong-Liang Wang

Platinum-group elements in southern Africa: mineral inventory and an assessment of undiscovered mineral resources Platinum-group elements in southern Africa: mineral inventory and an assessment of undiscovered mineral resources

The platinum-group elements, platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium, possess unique physical and chemical characteristics that make them indispensable to modern technology and industry. However, mineral deposits that are the main sources of these elements occur only in three countries in the world, raising concerns about potential disruption in mineral supply. Using
Authors
Michael L. Zientek, J. Douglas Causey, Heather L. Parks, Robert J. Miller

Bouse Formation in the Bristol basin near Amboy, California, USA Bouse Formation in the Bristol basin near Amboy, California, USA

Limestone beds underlain and overlain by alluvial fan conglomerate near Amboy, California, are very similar in many respects to parts of the Bouse Formation, suggesting that an arm of the Pliocene Bouse water body extended across a wide part of the southern Mojave Desert. The deposits are north of the town of Amboy at and below an elevation of 290 m, along the northern piedmont of the...
Authors
David M. Miller, Robert E. Reynolds, Jordan E. Bright, Scott W. Starratt

Geologic field notes and geochemical analyses of outcrop and drill core from Mesoproterozoic rocks and iron-oxide deposits and prospects of southeast Missouri Geologic field notes and geochemical analyses of outcrop and drill core from Mesoproterozoic rocks and iron-oxide deposits and prospects of southeast Missouri

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Missouri Geological Survey, undertook a study from 1988 to 1994 on the iron-oxide deposits and their host Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks in southeastern Missouri. The project resulted in an improvement of our understanding of the geologic setting, mode of formation, and the composition of many of...
Authors
Warren C. Day, Matthew Granitto

A geochemical perspective of Red Mountain: an unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in the Alaska Range A geochemical perspective of Red Mountain: an unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in the Alaska Range

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has investigated the environmental geochemistry of a group of unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits in the Bonnifield mining district, Alaska Range, east-central Alaska. The spectacularly colored Red Mountain deposit is the best exposed of these and provides excellent baseline geochemical data for natural environmental impacts of acidic...
Authors
Stuart A. Giles, Robert G. Eppinger

Geochronology and correlation of Tertiary volcanic and intrusive rocks in part of the southern Toquima Range, Nye County, Nevada Geochronology and correlation of Tertiary volcanic and intrusive rocks in part of the southern Toquima Range, Nye County, Nevada

Extensive volcanic and intrusive igneous activity, partly localized along regional structural zones, characterized the southern Toquima Range, Nevada, in the late Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene. The general chronology of igneous activity has been defined previously. This major episode of Tertiary magmatism began with emplacement of a variety of intrusive rocks, followed by formation of...
Authors
Daniel R. Shawe, Lawrence W. Snee, Frank M. Byers, Edward A. du Bray

The global age distribution of granitic pegmatites The global age distribution of granitic pegmatites

An updated global compilation of 377 new and previously published ages indicates that granitic pegmatites range in age from Mesoarchean to Neogene and have a semi-periodic age distribution. Undivided granitic pegmatites show twelve age maxima: 2913, 2687, 2501, 1853, 1379, 1174, 988, 525, 483, 391, 319, and 72 Ma. These peaks correspond broadly with various proxy records of...
Authors
Andrew McCauley, Dwight Bradley

Stream capture to form Red Pass, northern Soda Mountains, California Stream capture to form Red Pass, northern Soda Mountains, California

Red Pass, a narrow cut through the Soda Mountains important for prehistoric and early historic travelers, is quite young geologically. Its history of downcutting to capture streams west of the Soda Mountains, thereby draining much of eastern Fort Irwin, is told by the contrast in alluvial fan sediments on either side of the pass. Old alluvial fan deposits (>500 ka) were shed westward off...
Authors
David M. Miller, Shannon A. Mahan

Structural controls on geothermal circulation in Surprise Valley, California: A re-evaluation of the Lake City fault zone Structural controls on geothermal circulation in Surprise Valley, California: A re-evaluation of the Lake City fault zone

Faults and fractures play an important role in the circulation of geothermal fluids in the crust, and the nature of that role varies according to structural setting and state of stress. As a result, detailed geologic and geophysical mapping that relates thermal springs to known structural features is essential to modeling geothermal systems. Published maps of Surprise Valley in...
Authors
Anne E. Egger, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Darcy McPhee
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