Mine Wastes

Our project will characterize the primary critical minerals (minerals that contain critical elements in their base structure) that are not yet in the USGS Spectral Library. We propose to increase understanding of the spectral indicators of critical minerals using lab-based studies of hand specimens and drill core, hyperspectral field scanning, and hyperspectral images collected from aircraft.

This project will produce maps of surface mineralogy at 15 m spatial resolution covering the largest contiguous area of hyperspectral imagery that has ever been assembled for the U.S., over 380,000 sq. km. in California and Nevada. We are developing new methods to apply these data to map critical minerals, including minerals critical for battery fabrication, and to evaluate resources available...

The USGS Spectral Library contains reflectance spectra, including samples of minerals, rocks, soils, physically constructed as well as mathematically computed mixtures, plants, vegetation communities, microorganisms, and man-made materials. The samples and spectra collected were assembled for the purpose of using spectral features for the remote detection of these and similar materials. The latest...