Jeff Mauk is a Research Geologist with the Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center.
Science and Products
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...
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.
Filter Total Items: 14
Table of Electron Probe Microanalyses of Native Copper and Sulfide Minerals from the White Pine Sediment-hosted Copper Deposit, Michigan
This data release provides electron microprobe geochemical data that was collected as part of a scoping study to evaluate whether unconventional critical element resources may be associated with sediment-hosted copper systems in the Midcontinent Rift. We report abundances of trace elements in native copper and sulfide minerals in 12 thin sections from samples of the Mesoproterozoic lower Nonesuch
Hydrologic and geophysical data from high-elevation boreholes in Redwell Basin near Crested Butte, Colorado
Four boreholes (MW1, MW1UZ, MW2, MW2.1) were drilled in the fall of 2017 and summer of 2018 in upper Redwell Basin, a headwater catchment underlain by hydrothermally altered sedimentary rock in the Elk Mountains near the town of Crested Butte, Colorado. The boreholes were continuously cored using a wireline HQ-sized coring system and sample a combination of Quaternary-aged surficial colluvium and
Multi-element geochemical analyses of samples from the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Formation and Copper Harbor Conglomerate at the Copperwood copper deposit, Western Syncline, Michigan, USA
This data release provides multi-element data for drill core samples from the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Formation and Copper Harbor Conglomerate at the Copperwood copper deposit, Michigan, USA. Copper was determined by assay, and sulfur by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) after aqua regia digestion for most samples. Multi-element whole rock analyses were determined
Gallium Deposits in the United States
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of the only U.S. sites?including mineral regions, mineral occurrences, and mine features?that have reported production and (or) resources of gallium (Ga). The sites in this data release have contained resource and (or) past production of more than 16 metric tons Ga metal, which was the approximate average annual consumption
Tantalum Deposits in the United States
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of the only U.S. sites--including mineral regions, mineral occurrences, and mine features--that have reported production and (or) resources of tantalum (Ta). The sites in this data release have contained resource and (or) past production of more than 900 metric tons Ta metal, which was the approximate average annual consumpt
Niobium Deposits in the United States
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of 11 U.S. sites that include mineral regions, mines, and mineral occurrences that contain enrichments of niobium (Nb). To be included in this data release, a site must have a contained resource and (or) past production of Nb metal greater than 10,000 metric tons, which was the approximate consumption of Nb in the U.S. in 20
Tables of electron probe microanalyses from the Copperwood sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit, Michigan, USA
This data release provides electron microprobe analyses of ore minerals from the Copperwood sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The minerals include bornite, chalcocite, native copper, native silver, and pyrite. Minerals were analyzed for Ag, As, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, and Zn. Results with acceptable totals that lie between 98.5 and 101.5% show tha
Data to accompany U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020-3017: Pyrrhotite distribution in the conterminous United States
The mineral pyrrhotite, which is an unstable sulfide mineral, was present in crushed stone aggregate used in concrete foundations of homes in Connecticut and Massachusetts, many of those foundations are failing as the mineral weathers. Because of the substantial costs of lifting homes and replacing their foundations, in 2019 the U.S. Congress directed the U.S. Geological Survey?s (USGS) Mineral Re
Germanium Deposits in the United States
This data release provides data for the single site in the United States (U.S.) that has public record of germanium (Ge) production. Germanium, which is currently classified as a critical mineral in the U.S., is also extracted as a byproduct from deposits in Alaska, Washington, and Tennessee. However, there is no public information that documents germanium production from these deposits. Current a
Tellurium Deposits in the United States
This dataset is part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to understand the attributes and geologic distribution of critical mineral resources, both globally, and in particular, within the United States. The United States continues to become more dependent on imports to meet the domestic demands for an increasing number of mineral commodities. Many mineral commodities are now
Lithium Deposits in the United States
This data release provides the descriptions of approximately 20 U.S. sites that include mineral regions, mines, and mineral occurrences (deposits and prospects) that contain enrichments of lithium (Li). This release includes sites that have a contained resource and (or) past production of lithium metal greater than 15,000 metric tons. Sites in this database occur in Arkansas, California, Nevada, N
Global Distribution of Selected Mines, Deposits, and Districts of Critical Minerals
The point and polygon layers within this geodatabase present the global distribution of mineral resource features (deposits, mines, districts, mineral regions) for 22 minerals or mineral commodities considered critical to the economy and security of the United States as of 2017. These data accompany the report by Schulz and others (2017) which provides national and global information on antimony (
Filter Total Items: 23
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 surfaces. The fluvial-alluvial facies association (upper
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 the post-depositional thermal history of the MRS, sampl
Geology and mineral resources of the North-Central Montana Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter D in <em>Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming</em>
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 Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpo
By
Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, National Minerals Information Center
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 and extent of data coverage for statewide mapping of
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 Rahu, located 2 km north of Karangahake has identified
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 central veins (Amaranth, Trio, and Union) contain p
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 concentrations of gangue minerals that are include
GIS-Based Identification of Areas with Mineral Resource Potential for Six Selected Deposit Groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska
This study, covering the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Planning Area (CYPA), Alaska, was prepared to aid BLM mineral resource management planning. Estimated mineral resource potential and certainty are mapped for six selected mineral deposit groups: (1) rare earth element (REE) deposits associated with peralkaline to carbonatitic intrusive igneous rocks, (2) placer and paleoplacer
Geochemistry of magnetite from porphyry Cu and skarn deposits in the southwestern United States
A combination of petrographic observations, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and statistical data exploration was used in this study to determine compositional variations in hydrothermal and igneous magnetite from five porphyry Cu–Mo and skarn deposits in the southwestern United States, and igneous magnetite from the unmineralized, granodioritic Inner Zone B
Fluid inclusion chemistry of adularia-sericite epithermal Au-Ag deposits of the southern Hauraki Goldfield, New Zealand
Microthermometry, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and Raman spectroscopy have been used to determine the temperature, apparent salinity, and composition of individual fluid inclusions in adularia-sericite Au-Ag epithermal veins from the Karangahake, Martha, Favona, and Waitekauri deposits, southern Hauraki goldfield, New Zealand. Quartz veins contain collof
Permissive tracts for sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 73): Chapter J in <i>Second projet de renforcement institutionnel du secteur minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM
Although Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits have not been recognized in Mauritania there are permissive tracts for these deposits in the regionally extensive Proterozoic carbonate rocks of the Taoudeni Basin. Permissive tracts for undiscovered MVT Pb-Zn-Ag deposits in the Proterozoic carbonate units are supported by the occurrences of MVT mineral and alteration assemblages, presence of evapori
Science and Products
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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...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. - Data
Filter Total Items: 14
Table of Electron Probe Microanalyses of Native Copper and Sulfide Minerals from the White Pine Sediment-hosted Copper Deposit, Michigan
This data release provides electron microprobe geochemical data that was collected as part of a scoping study to evaluate whether unconventional critical element resources may be associated with sediment-hosted copper systems in the Midcontinent Rift. We report abundances of trace elements in native copper and sulfide minerals in 12 thin sections from samples of the Mesoproterozoic lower NonesuchHydrologic and geophysical data from high-elevation boreholes in Redwell Basin near Crested Butte, Colorado
Four boreholes (MW1, MW1UZ, MW2, MW2.1) were drilled in the fall of 2017 and summer of 2018 in upper Redwell Basin, a headwater catchment underlain by hydrothermally altered sedimentary rock in the Elk Mountains near the town of Crested Butte, Colorado. The boreholes were continuously cored using a wireline HQ-sized coring system and sample a combination of Quaternary-aged surficial colluvium andMulti-element geochemical analyses of samples from the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Formation and Copper Harbor Conglomerate at the Copperwood copper deposit, Western Syncline, Michigan, USA
This data release provides multi-element data for drill core samples from the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Formation and Copper Harbor Conglomerate at the Copperwood copper deposit, Michigan, USA. Copper was determined by assay, and sulfur by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) after aqua regia digestion for most samples. Multi-element whole rock analyses were determinedGallium Deposits in the United States
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of the only U.S. sites?including mineral regions, mineral occurrences, and mine features?that have reported production and (or) resources of gallium (Ga). The sites in this data release have contained resource and (or) past production of more than 16 metric tons Ga metal, which was the approximate average annual consumptionTantalum Deposits in the United States
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of the only U.S. sites--including mineral regions, mineral occurrences, and mine features--that have reported production and (or) resources of tantalum (Ta). The sites in this data release have contained resource and (or) past production of more than 900 metric tons Ta metal, which was the approximate average annual consumptNiobium Deposits in the United States
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of 11 U.S. sites that include mineral regions, mines, and mineral occurrences that contain enrichments of niobium (Nb). To be included in this data release, a site must have a contained resource and (or) past production of Nb metal greater than 10,000 metric tons, which was the approximate consumption of Nb in the U.S. in 20Tables of electron probe microanalyses from the Copperwood sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit, Michigan, USA
This data release provides electron microprobe analyses of ore minerals from the Copperwood sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The minerals include bornite, chalcocite, native copper, native silver, and pyrite. Minerals were analyzed for Ag, As, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, and Zn. Results with acceptable totals that lie between 98.5 and 101.5% show thaData to accompany U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020-3017: Pyrrhotite distribution in the conterminous United States
The mineral pyrrhotite, which is an unstable sulfide mineral, was present in crushed stone aggregate used in concrete foundations of homes in Connecticut and Massachusetts, many of those foundations are failing as the mineral weathers. Because of the substantial costs of lifting homes and replacing their foundations, in 2019 the U.S. Congress directed the U.S. Geological Survey?s (USGS) Mineral ReGermanium Deposits in the United States
This data release provides data for the single site in the United States (U.S.) that has public record of germanium (Ge) production. Germanium, which is currently classified as a critical mineral in the U.S., is also extracted as a byproduct from deposits in Alaska, Washington, and Tennessee. However, there is no public information that documents germanium production from these deposits. Current aTellurium Deposits in the United States
This dataset is part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to understand the attributes and geologic distribution of critical mineral resources, both globally, and in particular, within the United States. The United States continues to become more dependent on imports to meet the domestic demands for an increasing number of mineral commodities. Many mineral commodities are nowLithium Deposits in the United States
This data release provides the descriptions of approximately 20 U.S. sites that include mineral regions, mines, and mineral occurrences (deposits and prospects) that contain enrichments of lithium (Li). This release includes sites that have a contained resource and (or) past production of lithium metal greater than 15,000 metric tons. Sites in this database occur in Arkansas, California, Nevada, NGlobal Distribution of Selected Mines, Deposits, and Districts of Critical Minerals
The point and polygon layers within this geodatabase present the global distribution of mineral resource features (deposits, mines, districts, mineral regions) for 22 minerals or mineral commodities considered critical to the economy and security of the United States as of 2017. These data accompany the report by Schulz and others (2017) which provides national and global information on antimony ( - Publications
Filter Total Items: 23
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 surfaces. The fluvial-alluvial facies association (upperConstraining 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 the post-depositional thermal history of the MRS, samplGeology and mineral resources of the North-Central Montana Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter D in <em>Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming</em>
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 Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpoByEnergy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, National Minerals Information CenterThe 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 and extent of data coverage for statewide mapping ofExploration 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 Rahu, located 2 km north of Karangahake has identifiedOre 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 central veins (Amaranth, Trio, and Union) contain pGeometallurgy 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 concentrations of gangue minerals that are includeGIS-Based Identification of Areas with Mineral Resource Potential for Six Selected Deposit Groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska
This study, covering the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Planning Area (CYPA), Alaska, was prepared to aid BLM mineral resource management planning. Estimated mineral resource potential and certainty are mapped for six selected mineral deposit groups: (1) rare earth element (REE) deposits associated with peralkaline to carbonatitic intrusive igneous rocks, (2) placer and paleoplacerGeochemistry of magnetite from porphyry Cu and skarn deposits in the southwestern United States
A combination of petrographic observations, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and statistical data exploration was used in this study to determine compositional variations in hydrothermal and igneous magnetite from five porphyry Cu–Mo and skarn deposits in the southwestern United States, and igneous magnetite from the unmineralized, granodioritic Inner Zone BFluid inclusion chemistry of adularia-sericite epithermal Au-Ag deposits of the southern Hauraki Goldfield, New Zealand
Microthermometry, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and Raman spectroscopy have been used to determine the temperature, apparent salinity, and composition of individual fluid inclusions in adularia-sericite Au-Ag epithermal veins from the Karangahake, Martha, Favona, and Waitekauri deposits, southern Hauraki goldfield, New Zealand. Quartz veins contain collofPermissive tracts for sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 73): Chapter J in <i>Second projet de renforcement institutionnel du secteur minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM
Although Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits have not been recognized in Mauritania there are permissive tracts for these deposits in the regionally extensive Proterozoic carbonate rocks of the Taoudeni Basin. Permissive tracts for undiscovered MVT Pb-Zn-Ag deposits in the Proterozoic carbonate units are supported by the occurrences of MVT mineral and alteration assemblages, presence of evapori - News