Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds geochemistry surveying in Wyoming
RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Wyoming Geological Survey are investing about $250,000, to conduct detailed geochemical sampling in the Medicine Bows Mountains of Wyoming.
This project will develop and conduct an exhaustive sampling program to target areas of known and unknown mineralization in shear-hosted veins; layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions and associated felsic intrusions along the Cheyenne belt; felsic intrusions, pegmatites, and vein systems in the accreted Proterozoic terranes; Precambrian sulfide-rich metasediments and metavolcanics; radioactive paleoplacers; and mineral-rich pegmatites. Potential critical minerals in the project area include cobalt, chromium, nickel, the platinum group elements, the rare earth elements and zinc.
The grants for the geologic mapping come from a $74 million investment allocated earlier this year to the USGS Mineral Resources Program’s Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI), provided through annual appropriations and investments from the Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Overall, the Infrastructure Law is providing an appropriated $510.7 million investment to the USGS to advance scientific innovation and map critical minerals.
The geochemical reconnaissance surveys will collect geologic samples from areas of interest, then analyze them for what kinds of minerals may be found. This analysis provides initial information on under-studied geologic settings, thus helping plan and prioritize future years’ data collection and mapping. The surveys are usually the first step in identifying which areas should be studied for critical mineral potential, as well as other natural resources like energy or groundwater.
Earth MRI is a partnership between the USGS and state geological surveys across America to modernize our understanding of the Nation’s fundamental geologic framework and mineral resources through new geologic maps, geophysical and topographic surveys, and geochemical sampling. The 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided additional funding that has accelerated this new mapping in areas with potential for hosting critical mineral resources both still in the ground and in mine wastes.
More information can be found here. To learn more about how the USGS is investing the resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, visit our website. To learn more about USGS mineral resource and commodity information, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter.
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The goal of Earth MRI is to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework in the United States and to identify areas that may have the potential to contain undiscovered critical mineral resources. Enhancement of our domestic mineral supply will decrease the Nation’s reliance on foreign sources of minerals that are fundamental to our security and economy. - News
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