Publications

Five companies mined fire clay in four states in 2011. Production, based on a preliminary survey of the fire clay industry, was estimated to be 240 kt (265,000 st), valued at $7.68 million, an increase from 216 kt (238,000 st), valued at $6.12 million in 2010. Missouri was the leading producing state, followed by Texas, Washington and Ohio, in decreasing order by quantity.

Production of pumice in the United States during 2011 was estimated to be 380 kt (420,000 st), a 3-percent decrease compared with 2010. The unit value of pumice varied by end use in 2011. Pumice used as an abrasive was priced at $10.39/t ($9.30/st), while specialty-grade pumice, used in cosmetics, filtration or precision grinding, was priced as high as $150/t ($130/st) on a spot basis...

The article offers information on aluminum, a mineral resource which is described as the third-most abundant element in Earth's crust. According to the article, aluminum is the second-most used metal. Hans Christian Oersted, a Danish chemist, was the first to isolate aluminum in the laboratory. Aluminum is described as lightweight, corrosion-resistant and an excellent conductor of...

The U.S. Geological Survey defines the construction aggregates industry as those companies that mine and process crushed stone and/or construction sand and gravel. Aggregates have been used from the earliest times of our civilization for a variety of purposes - construction being the major use. As construction aggregates, crushed stone and construction sand and gravel are the basic raw...

Four companies — H.C. Spinks Clay Co., Inc., Imerys Group, Old Hickory Clay Co., and Unimin Corp. — mined ball clay in four states in 2011. Production, on the basis of preliminary data, was 940 kt (1.04 million st) with an estimated value of $44.2 million. This is a 3-percent increase in tonnage from 912 kt (1.01 million st) with a value of $41.3 million that was produced in 2010...

The element cadmium was discovered in 1817 by Friedrich Stromeyer, a professor of chemistry at the University of Göttingen in Germany. Stromeyer noticed that a yellowish glow would occur when heat was applied to certain samples of calamine, a zinc-carbonate. This was unusual as the reaction was expected to be colorless. After further testing, Stromeyer deduced that an unknown metallic...

Mineralogical and geochemical studies of strata-bound Fe-Co-Cu-Au-Bi-Y-rare-earth element (REE) deposits of the Idaho cobalt belt in east-central Idaho provide evidence of multistage epigenetic mineralization by magmatic-hydrothermal processes in an iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) system. Deposits of the Idaho cobalt belt comprise three types: (1) strata-bound sulfide lenses in the...

Subduction of the Farallon plate beneath northwestern Mexico stalled by ~12 Ma when the Pacific-Farallon spreading-ridge approached the subduction zone. Coupling between remnant slab and the overriding North American plate played an important role in the capture of the Baja California (BC) microplate by the Pacific Plate. Active-source seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic refraction...

Current global and domestic mineral resources of beryllium (Be) for industrial uses are dominated by ores produced from deposits of the volcanogenic Be type. Beryllium deposits of this type can form where hydrothermal fluids interact with fluorine and lithophile-element (uranium, thorium, rubidium, lithium, beryllium, cesium, tantalum, rare earth elements, and tin) enriched volcanic...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) have cooperated to map approximately 410 square kilometers (km²) of the inner continental shelf in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. This report contains geophysical data collected by the USGS on three cruises conducted in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and additional bathymetry data collected by the...

The basic mass transfer equation for gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide can be derived from integration of the driving force equation. Because of the physical characteristics of the gas transfer processes, slightly different models are used for aerators tested under the non steady-state procedures, than for packed columns, or weirs. It is suggested that the standard condition for...

In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada, and the Mexican Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1600 km2, 13323 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of North American soils (North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project). Sampling and analytical protocols were developed at a series of workshops in 20032004 and pilot studies were...