Jeffrey L Mauk
Science and Products
USMIN Mineral Deposit Database
Our objective is to develop a national-scale, geospatial database that is the authoritative source of the most important mines, mineral deposits, and mineral districts of the United States.
Sediment-Hosted Copper Deposits in the Lake Superior Portion of the Midcontinent Rift System
This project is focused on the sediment-hosted copper deposits of the Midcontinent Rift, with three main objectives: 1) describe the ore mineralogy and geochemistry of the White Pine and Copperwood deposits, 2) evaluate whether hydrothermal alteration in footwall rocks can be used as a vector towards ore, and 3) provide a careful scoping study to evaluate whether unconventional platinum-group...
USGS 2020 critical minerals review
Concerns about the lack of domestic production and availability of essential mineral raw materials were a recurring theme throughout the 20th century, particularly in the periods around armed conflicts (Congressional Research Service, 2019). These concerns resulted in the designation of particular minerals as “strategic” or “critical,” terms that...
Fortier, Steven M.; Nassar, Nedal T.; Kelley, Karen D.; Lederer, Graham W.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Day, Warren C.; Seal, Robert R.
Pyrrhotite distribution in the conterminous United States, 2020
In parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts, foundations of some homes are cracking and crumbling. Failing foundations can reduce the market value of a home and lifting a house to replace and repour a foundation is an expensive undertaking. In response, some homeowners are defaulting on their mortgages and abandoning their homes. The...
Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Crafford, Thomas C.; Horton, John D.; San Juan, Carma A.; Robinson,, Gilpin R.
Descriptive models for epithermal gold-silver deposits
Epithermal gold-silver deposits are vein, stockwork, disseminated, and replacement deposits that are mined primarily for their gold and silver contents; some deposits also contain substantial resources of lead, zinc, copper, and (or) mercury. These deposits form in the uppermost parts of the crust, at depths less than about 1,500 meters below the...
John, David A.; Vikre, Peter G.; du Bray, Edward A.; Blakely, Richard J.; Fey, David L.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Anderson, Eric D.; Graybeal, Frederick T. Sedimentology, sequence-stratigraphy, and geochemical variations in the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Formation, northern Wisconsin, USA
We use core descriptions and portable X-ray fluorescence analyses to identify lithofacies and stratigraphic surfaces for the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Formation within the Ashland syncline, Wisconsin. We group lithofacies into facies associations and construct a sequence stratigraphic framework based on lithofacies stacking and stratigraphic...
Kingsbury Stewart, Esther; Mauk, Jeffrey L. Constraining the thermal history of the North American Midcontinent Rift System using carbonate clumped isotopes and organic thermal maturity indices
The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a Late Mesoproterozoic (∼1.1 Ga) sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks exposed in the Lake Superior Region of North America. The MRS continues to be the focus of much research due to its economic mineral deposits as well as its archive of Precambrian life and tectonic processes. In order to constrain...
Gallagher, Timothy M.; Sheldon, Nathan D.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Petersen, Sierra V.; Gueneli, Nur; Brocks, Jochen J. Episodic formation of the world-class Waihi epithermal Au-Ag vein system, Hauraki Goldfield, New Zealand
The world-class Waihi vein system in New Zealand has produced more than 248,400 kg Au and 1.43 million kg Ag. New high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dates of adularia from different veins show that some veins formed at different times (6.15 Ma Martha vs. 5.83 and 5.85 Ma Empire and Welcome, respectively), even though they have similar mineralogy. The Martha...
Gasston, Erin; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Cosca, Michael A.; Morgan, Leah E.; Hall, Chris M. Locatable mineral assessment tracts for the U.S. Geological Survey Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment Project
The polygon (vector) feature class represents locatable mineral resource assessment tracts (tracts of land) associated with the Department of the Interior (DOI) Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Montana, Wyoming and Utah, central Idaho, and the Oregon-Nevada-Idaho border area. The mineral-resources tracts are geographic areas that were assessed by...
San Juan, Carma A.; Horton, John D.; Parks, Heather L.; Mihalasky, Mark J.; Anderson, Eric D.; Benson, Mary Ellen; Box, Stephen E.; Cossette, Pamela M.; Denning, Paul D.; Giles, Stuart A.; Hall, Susan M.; Hayes, Timothy S.; Hearn, Carter B.; Hofstra, Albert H.; John, David A.; Ludington, Stephen; Lund, Karen; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Robinson, Gilpin R.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Rytuba, James J.; Smith, Steven M.; Stillings, Lisa; Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Vikre, Peter G.; Wallis, John C.; Wilson, Anna B.; Zientek, Michael L.; Zurcher, Lukas
Geology and mineral resources of the North-Central Montana Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter D in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see...
Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Zientek, Michael L.; Hearn, B. Carter; Parks, Heather L.; Jenkins, M. Christopher; Anderson, Eric D.; Benson, Mary Ellen; Bleiwas, Donald I.; DeAngelo, Jacob; Denning, Paul; Dicken, Connie L.; Drake, Ronald M.; Fernette, Gregory L.; Folger, Helen W.; Giles, Stuart A.; Glen, Jonathan M. G.; Granitto, Matthew; Haacke, Jon E.; Horton, John D.; Kelley, Karen D.; Ober, Joyce A.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; San Juan, Carma A.; Sangine, Elizabeth S.; Schweitzer, Peter N.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Smith, Steven M.; Williams, Colin F.; Yager, Douglas B.
The geochemical atlas of Alaska, 2016
A rich legacy of geochemical data produced since the early 1960s covers the great expanse of Alaska; careful treatment of such data may provide significant and revealing geochemical maps that may be used for landscape geochemistry, mineral resource exploration, and geoenvironmental investigations over large areas. To maximize the spatial density...
Lee, Gregory K.; Yager, Douglas B.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Granitto, Matthew; Denning, Paul; Wang, Bronwen; Werdon, Melanie B. Exploration and geology of the Karangahake and Rahu epithermal Au-Ag deposits, Hauraki Goldfield
Karangahake was the third largest gold producer in the Hauraki goldfield. In 2009, New Talisman Gold mines was granted a mining permit, and plans are underway to commence underground mine development of the Maria vein, which has a maiden Ore Reserve (consistent with the 2012 JORC Code) of 28 800 oz Au and 127 800 oz Ag. Exploration drilling at...
Simpson, Mark P.; Stevens, Murray R; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Harris, Matthew C; Stuart, Alistair G J Geometallurgy of ironsand from the Waikato North Head deposit, New Zealand
The Waikato North Head deposit produces a magnetic mineral concentrate from Quaternary sands that formed in a coastal setting in the North Island of New Zealand. Detailed examination of the magnetic mineral fraction of the different stratigraphic horizons mined at Waikato North Head shows that the youngest units yield concentrates with significant...
Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Cocker, Helen A; Rogers, Harold; Ogiliev, Jamie; Padya, Alex B Ore mineralogy and textural zonation in the world-class epithermal Waihi Vein System, Hauraki Goldfield
The Waihi district in the Hauraki Goldfield of New Zealand contains adularia-sericite epithermal gold-silver veins that have produced more than 7.7 Moz gold. The outermost veins of the district (Martha, Favona, Moonlight, and Cowshed) contain abundant colloform, cherty, and black quartz fill textures, with minor crustiform and massive quartz. The...
Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Skinner, Erin G; Fyfe, Sarah J; Menzies, Andrew H; Lowers, Heather A.; Koenig, Alan E.
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Gallium Deposits in the United States
In the latest database update based on the Critical Minerals List, the USGS has added Gallium to USMIN.
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Tantalum Deposits in the United States
The USGS has added the critical mineral commodity tantalum to USMIN.
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Niobium Deposits in the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has updated its USMIN Mineral Deposit Database (USMIN) for the mineral commodity niobium, one of 35 mineral commodities declared critical by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Sites in this dataset occur in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas.
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Tungsten Deposits in the United States
The USGS has updated its USMIN Mineral Deposit Database for the mineral commodity tungsten, one of 35 minerals declared critical by the Department of the Interior in 2018.
New USGS Map Helps Identify Where Pyrrhotite, a Mineral that Can Cause Concrete Foundations to Fail, May Occur
The USGS has released its first-ever map of where the mineral pyrrhotite may occur in the contiguous United States. This research was mandated by Congress in the FY2019 appropriations bill for the USGS and was supported by the USGS Mineral Resources Program.