Rare Earth Elements (REE)

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.

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.

The project objective is to provide follow-up geophysical ground data acquisition and interpretation for areas involving Precambrian geologic settings in the Upper Midwest and Rocky Mountains. The project is designed fill gaps and to complement the high-quality aeromagnetic acquired during the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI).

The project focus was the development of traditional and microanalytical reference materials that support USGS geochemical investigations. Development of new microanalytical reference materials allows USGS scientists and outside customers to examine a greater range of sample types while maintaining a high degree of data reliability.

Understanding the genesis of ore deposits and their behavior in the environment is a subject of great importance to the Nation. A relatively new tool to aid in these efforts to investigate the origin and environmental effects of ore deposits is the use of "heavy" metal stable isotopes. Our research objectives are to utilize various isotopic systems to advance our understanding of ore genesis and...

Critical elements are essential to the modern economy and have potential supply chain disruptions, but compared to most base and precious metals, little work has been done in understanding ore-grade enrichments. Carbonatites are the primary source of the worlds light rare earth elements and niobium, and a potential source for heavy rare earths, scandium, tantalum, and thorium. Project objectives...

The purpose of this project is to update the current gridded products created from the North American airborne gamma ray spectrometry data using new statistical techniques to analyze spatial data and to create higher quality national airborne radiometric grids.

The primary goal of this project is to ensure the availability of state-of-the-art mineralogical analyses and, when needed, development of new analytical methods that can be applied to topical studies in Energy and Minerals Mission Area, as well as the other mission areas. The project includes mineralogy by X-ray diffraction (XRD), qualitative and semi-quantitative x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy...

We are working to develop an understanding of the types, sizes, and spatial distribution of rare-earth element (REE) related deposits in the Southern Basin and Range geologic province to help ensure the availability of REEs to industry in the United States. Geologic, geophysical, and geochemical data acquired will be used to develop permissive tracts for REE related deposits and to define areas of...

Project objectives are: 1) to fully establish a comprehensive and robust geologic and geochemical framework for the occurrence of volcanic-related beryllium (Be) deposits; 2) further our understanding of the fundamental ore processes that lead to formation of volcanogenic beryllium (Be)-boron (B)-lithium (Li)-phosphorus (P) group deposits, by investigating processes favorable for enhanced...

The overall project objective is a comprehensive analysis of the natural and anthropogenic consequences of extensive ore and trace mineralization in the southern midcontinent of the U.S. with a focus on Missouri. This will be conducted at two scales: 1) landscape and 2) process-level. 1) Landscape scale using geospatial and machine learning techniques to combine multiple geochemical and geologic...

In many parts of the southeastern U.S., dark-colored sands can be seen at beaches or beneath soil. These sands contain titanium, zirconium, and rare earth elements, which are considered critical mineral resources. Such sands are present in areas from the coast to a hundred miles or more inland beneath soil within the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province. In some locales they are concentrated enough to...