Joshua A Coyan, PhD (Former Employee)
Science and Products
MinFrame - Methodological infrastructure needed for resource assessment, modeling, and evaluation
Assessing the mineral resources of the United States represents a core function of the Energy and Minerals Mission Area since the inception of the U.S. Geological Survey under the Organic Act of 1879. As reaffirmed by the Energy Policy Act of 2020, assessment of identified and undiscovered resources of critical mineral commodities continues to form a focal point of the Mineral Resources Program...
Mineral Resource Assessment Training
The USGS Mineral Resources Program conducts mineral resource assessments and is training USGS scientists in how to conduct these assessments for future work. As a practical exercise, the scientists will conduct an assessment for tungsten in the U.S.
Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project II (DATAP II)
The Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project (DATAPII) objective is to modernize the application and development of USGS mineral resource and integrated multiresource assessment methodologies and capacity that are applicable at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and national and international in scope.
Data release accompanying Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Lithium Pegmatite Deposits in the Southern Appalachian Orogen Data release accompanying Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Lithium Pegmatite Deposits in the Southern Appalachian Orogen
A mineral resource assessment for lithium was carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the southern Appalachian region, between latitudes 31N and 40N and longitudes 75W and 89W, in the following states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. This study (Rosera and others, in press) integrates data from several sources, including...
Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Geodatabase Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Geodatabase
A mineral resource assessment for tungsten, a critical mineral commodity (see 'Related External Resources' section below) for the United States, was carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for a portion of the Great Basin region, in western Nevada and eastern California, between latitudes 36N and 42N and longitudes 116W and 120W. This study (Lederer and others, in review)...
Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Simulation results Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Simulation results
The dataset consists of the input data, parameters, and results output from mineral resource assessment calculations.
Rare earth elements on the Moon Rare earth elements on the Moon
Rare earth elements (REEs) are a scarce but vital resource for our modern economies and lifestyles. Since the late 1990s, China has supplied the vast majority of the world’s refined REEs. Increasing global demand has broadened the search for REE deposits to unconventional places, including the Moon. Although most lunar rocks have very low REE concentrations, Apollo samples showed that...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua A. Coyan, Lori M. Pigue, Kristen A. Bennett, Travis S.J. Gabriel
VIPER site analysis VIPER site analysis
We needed to evaluate available orbital data of NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission area in order to derive a variety of maps to help the science team identify scientifically interesting places for the rover to visit and to provide scientific context for our mission. Some of these maps also fulfilled engineering and mission design needs to enable safe...
Authors
Ross A. Beyer, Mark Shirley, Anthony Colaprete, Caleb I. Fassett, Benjamin Fernando, Tanish P. Himani, Myriam Lemelin, José Martinez-Comacho, Matthew Siegler, Andrew M. Annex, Edward Balaban, Valentin T. Bickel, Joshua A. Coyan, Ariel N. Deutsch, Jennifer L. Heldmann, Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Kevin W. Lewis, Darlene S.S. Lim, Eldar Noe Dobrea
Quantitative mineral resource assessment of lithium pegmatite deposits in the Appalachian Orogen, USA Quantitative mineral resource assessment of lithium pegmatite deposits in the Appalachian Orogen, USA
Lithium is classified as a U.S. critical mineral commodity, and its demand is projected to drastically increase through 2040, driven by electric vehicle production and energy storage applications (IEA 2021).Most global lithium production is not in the United States increasing vulnerability to a supply disruption. The U.S. Geological Survey is actively assessing domestic lithium deposits...
Authors
Niki E. Wintzer, Joshua Mark Rosera, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Dalton M. McCaffrey, Kelsey Elizabeth Crocker, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Graham W. Lederer
Assessing lunar rare earth element resources Assessing lunar rare earth element resources
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are increasingly attracting attention globally due to their pivotal role in enhancing the performance of various hightech devices. Small amounts of these elements greatly improve the performance of materials, making magnets stronger, lenses clearer, lights brighter, batteries last longer, etc. Here we examine the notion that REEs from the Moon might compete...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Lori M. Pigue, Kristen A. Bennett, Clive Neal, Joshua A. Coyan, Richard Elphic
Prospectivity modeling of the NASA VIPER landing site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole Prospectivity modeling of the NASA VIPER landing site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole
We use a high-resolution digital elevation model and a numerical thermal model to produce a variety of inputs for a water-ice prospectivity model for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) landing site. These input data are maps of topography, surface slope, surface aspect, surface curvature, maximum temperature, depth to ice stability, permanently shadowed regions...
Authors
Joshua Aaron Coyan, Matthew A. Siegler, José Martinez-Comacho, Ross A. Beyer, Mark Shirley
Tungsten skarn quantitative mineral resource assessment and gold, rare earth elements, graphite, and uranium qualitative assessments of the Kuldjuktau and Auminzatau Ranges, in the central Kyzylkum region, Uzbekistan Tungsten skarn quantitative mineral resource assessment and gold, rare earth elements, graphite, and uranium qualitative assessments of the Kuldjuktau and Auminzatau Ranges, in the central Kyzylkum region, Uzbekistan
A new quantitative mineral resource assessment for tungsten skarn was conducted for the Auminzatau and Kuldjuktau mountain ranges in Central Uzbekistan, along with qualitative assessments of orogenic gold, rare earth elements (REEs), amorphous graphite, and uranium. By integrating a variety of geological, geochemical, geophysical, and remote sensing data sets, estimates of undiscovered...
Authors
Joshua Aaron Coyan, Federico Solano, Cliff D. Taylor, Carol A. Finn, Steven M. Smith, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Laura Pianowski, Kelsey Elizabeth Crocker, Rustam Mirkamalov, Fareed Divaev, Abdulla Baratov, Botir Khakimov, Jurabek Azimov, Akrom Goipov, Jamshid Avulov, Shokir Akhmadov, Nurbek Inatov, Xurshid Janiev, Nafisa Dulabova
Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022 Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022
The idea of mining the Moon, once purely science-fiction, is now on the verge of becoming reality. Taking advantage of the resources on the Moon is part of the plans of many nations and some enterprising commercial entities; demonstrating in-situ (in place) resource utilization near the lunar south pole is an explicit goal of the United States’ Artemis program. Economic extraction and...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua A. Coyan, Kristen A. Bennett, Lillian R. Ostrach, Lisa R. Gaddis, Travis S.J. Gabriel, Justin Hagerty
Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials
Demand for critical raw materials is expected to accelerate over the next few decades due to continued population growth and the shifting consumption patterns of the global economy. Sedimentary basins are important sources for critical raw materials and new discoveries of sediment–hosted Mississippi Valley–type (MVT) and/or clastic–dominated (CD) Zn–Pb deposits are likely required to...
Authors
Christopher J. M. Lawley, Anne E. McCafferty, Garth E. Graham, David L. Huston, Karen D. Kelley, Karol Czarnota, Suzanne Paradis, Jan M. Peter, Nathan Hayward, Mike Barlow, Poul Emsbo, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Carma A. San Juan, Michael G. Gadd
Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted mineral systems Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted mineral systems
Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and clastic-dominated (CD) deposits are important sources for Zn, Pb, Ag, and Cd as well as the critical elements Ga, Ge, In, and Sb. However, mapping the drivers, sources, pathways, and traps of MVT and CD deposits within the much larger and mostly unmineralized sedimentary basins remain some of the least understood aspects of these mineral systems. Herein...
Authors
Christopher J.M. Lawley, Anne E. McCafferty, Garth E. Graham, Michael G. Gadd, David L. Huston, Karen D. Kelley, Karol Czarnota, Suzanne Paradis, Jan M. Peter, Nathan Hayward, Mike Barlow, Poul Emsbo, Joshua A. Coyan, Carma A. San Juan
Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California
A new quantitative mineral resource assessment for tungsten, a critical mineral commodity with highly concentrated production and a moderate risk of global supply disruption, was conducted for the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California. This assessment was part of a larger effort focusing on three regions in the United States and represents the first study of...
Authors
Graham W. Lederer, Federico Solano, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Kevin Denton, Kathryn E. Watts, Celestine N. Mercer, Damon Bickerstaff, Matthew Granitto
Spatiotemporal analysis of changes in lode mining claims around the McDermitt Caldera, northern Nevada and southern Oregon Spatiotemporal analysis of changes in lode mining claims around the McDermitt Caldera, northern Nevada and southern Oregon
Resource managers and agencies involved with planning for future federal land needs are required to complete an assessment of and forecast for future land use every ten years. Predicting mining activities on federal lands is difficult as current regulations do not require disclosure of exploration results. In these cases, historic mining claims may serve as a useful proxy for determining...
Authors
Joshua A. Coyan, Michael L. Zientek, Mark J. Mihalasky
Late Holocene slip rate of the San Andreas fault and its accommodation by creep and moderate-magnitude earthquakes at Parkfield, California Late Holocene slip rate of the San Andreas fault and its accommodation by creep and moderate-magnitude earthquakes at Parkfield, California
Investigation of a right-laterally offset channel at the Miller's Field paleoseismic site yields a late Holocene slip rate of 26.2 +6.4/−4.3 mm/yr (1σ) for the main trace of the San Andreas fault at Parkfield, California. This is the first well-documented geologic slip rate between the Carrizo and creeping sections of the San Andreas fault. This rate is lower than Holocene measurements...
Authors
N.A. Toke, J.R. Arrowsmith, Michael J. Rymer, A. Landgraf, D.E. Haddad, M. Busch, J. Coyan, A. Hannah
Science and Products
MinFrame - Methodological infrastructure needed for resource assessment, modeling, and evaluation
Assessing the mineral resources of the United States represents a core function of the Energy and Minerals Mission Area since the inception of the U.S. Geological Survey under the Organic Act of 1879. As reaffirmed by the Energy Policy Act of 2020, assessment of identified and undiscovered resources of critical mineral commodities continues to form a focal point of the Mineral Resources Program...
Mineral Resource Assessment Training
The USGS Mineral Resources Program conducts mineral resource assessments and is training USGS scientists in how to conduct these assessments for future work. As a practical exercise, the scientists will conduct an assessment for tungsten in the U.S.
Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project II (DATAP II)
The Development of Assessment Techniques and Analysis Project (DATAPII) objective is to modernize the application and development of USGS mineral resource and integrated multiresource assessment methodologies and capacity that are applicable at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and national and international in scope.
Data release accompanying Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Lithium Pegmatite Deposits in the Southern Appalachian Orogen Data release accompanying Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Lithium Pegmatite Deposits in the Southern Appalachian Orogen
A mineral resource assessment for lithium was carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the southern Appalachian region, between latitudes 31N and 40N and longitudes 75W and 89W, in the following states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. This study (Rosera and others, in press) integrates data from several sources, including...
Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Geodatabase Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Geodatabase
A mineral resource assessment for tungsten, a critical mineral commodity (see 'Related External Resources' section below) for the United States, was carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for a portion of the Great Basin region, in western Nevada and eastern California, between latitudes 36N and 42N and longitudes 116W and 120W. This study (Lederer and others, in review)...
Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Simulation results Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California - Simulation results
The dataset consists of the input data, parameters, and results output from mineral resource assessment calculations.
Rare earth elements on the Moon Rare earth elements on the Moon
Rare earth elements (REEs) are a scarce but vital resource for our modern economies and lifestyles. Since the late 1990s, China has supplied the vast majority of the world’s refined REEs. Increasing global demand has broadened the search for REE deposits to unconventional places, including the Moon. Although most lunar rocks have very low REE concentrations, Apollo samples showed that...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua A. Coyan, Lori M. Pigue, Kristen A. Bennett, Travis S.J. Gabriel
VIPER site analysis VIPER site analysis
We needed to evaluate available orbital data of NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission area in order to derive a variety of maps to help the science team identify scientifically interesting places for the rover to visit and to provide scientific context for our mission. Some of these maps also fulfilled engineering and mission design needs to enable safe...
Authors
Ross A. Beyer, Mark Shirley, Anthony Colaprete, Caleb I. Fassett, Benjamin Fernando, Tanish P. Himani, Myriam Lemelin, José Martinez-Comacho, Matthew Siegler, Andrew M. Annex, Edward Balaban, Valentin T. Bickel, Joshua A. Coyan, Ariel N. Deutsch, Jennifer L. Heldmann, Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Kevin W. Lewis, Darlene S.S. Lim, Eldar Noe Dobrea
Quantitative mineral resource assessment of lithium pegmatite deposits in the Appalachian Orogen, USA Quantitative mineral resource assessment of lithium pegmatite deposits in the Appalachian Orogen, USA
Lithium is classified as a U.S. critical mineral commodity, and its demand is projected to drastically increase through 2040, driven by electric vehicle production and energy storage applications (IEA 2021).Most global lithium production is not in the United States increasing vulnerability to a supply disruption. The U.S. Geological Survey is actively assessing domestic lithium deposits...
Authors
Niki E. Wintzer, Joshua Mark Rosera, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Dalton M. McCaffrey, Kelsey Elizabeth Crocker, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Graham W. Lederer
Assessing lunar rare earth element resources Assessing lunar rare earth element resources
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are increasingly attracting attention globally due to their pivotal role in enhancing the performance of various hightech devices. Small amounts of these elements greatly improve the performance of materials, making magnets stronger, lenses clearer, lights brighter, batteries last longer, etc. Here we examine the notion that REEs from the Moon might compete...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Lori M. Pigue, Kristen A. Bennett, Clive Neal, Joshua A. Coyan, Richard Elphic
Prospectivity modeling of the NASA VIPER landing site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole Prospectivity modeling of the NASA VIPER landing site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole
We use a high-resolution digital elevation model and a numerical thermal model to produce a variety of inputs for a water-ice prospectivity model for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) landing site. These input data are maps of topography, surface slope, surface aspect, surface curvature, maximum temperature, depth to ice stability, permanently shadowed regions...
Authors
Joshua Aaron Coyan, Matthew A. Siegler, José Martinez-Comacho, Ross A. Beyer, Mark Shirley
Tungsten skarn quantitative mineral resource assessment and gold, rare earth elements, graphite, and uranium qualitative assessments of the Kuldjuktau and Auminzatau Ranges, in the central Kyzylkum region, Uzbekistan Tungsten skarn quantitative mineral resource assessment and gold, rare earth elements, graphite, and uranium qualitative assessments of the Kuldjuktau and Auminzatau Ranges, in the central Kyzylkum region, Uzbekistan
A new quantitative mineral resource assessment for tungsten skarn was conducted for the Auminzatau and Kuldjuktau mountain ranges in Central Uzbekistan, along with qualitative assessments of orogenic gold, rare earth elements (REEs), amorphous graphite, and uranium. By integrating a variety of geological, geochemical, geophysical, and remote sensing data sets, estimates of undiscovered...
Authors
Joshua Aaron Coyan, Federico Solano, Cliff D. Taylor, Carol A. Finn, Steven M. Smith, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Laura Pianowski, Kelsey Elizabeth Crocker, Rustam Mirkamalov, Fareed Divaev, Abdulla Baratov, Botir Khakimov, Jurabek Azimov, Akrom Goipov, Jamshid Avulov, Shokir Akhmadov, Nurbek Inatov, Xurshid Janiev, Nafisa Dulabova
Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022 Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022
The idea of mining the Moon, once purely science-fiction, is now on the verge of becoming reality. Taking advantage of the resources on the Moon is part of the plans of many nations and some enterprising commercial entities; demonstrating in-situ (in place) resource utilization near the lunar south pole is an explicit goal of the United States’ Artemis program. Economic extraction and...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua A. Coyan, Kristen A. Bennett, Lillian R. Ostrach, Lisa R. Gaddis, Travis S.J. Gabriel, Justin Hagerty
Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials
Demand for critical raw materials is expected to accelerate over the next few decades due to continued population growth and the shifting consumption patterns of the global economy. Sedimentary basins are important sources for critical raw materials and new discoveries of sediment–hosted Mississippi Valley–type (MVT) and/or clastic–dominated (CD) Zn–Pb deposits are likely required to...
Authors
Christopher J. M. Lawley, Anne E. McCafferty, Garth E. Graham, David L. Huston, Karen D. Kelley, Karol Czarnota, Suzanne Paradis, Jan M. Peter, Nathan Hayward, Mike Barlow, Poul Emsbo, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Carma A. San Juan, Michael G. Gadd
Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted mineral systems Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted mineral systems
Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and clastic-dominated (CD) deposits are important sources for Zn, Pb, Ag, and Cd as well as the critical elements Ga, Ge, In, and Sb. However, mapping the drivers, sources, pathways, and traps of MVT and CD deposits within the much larger and mostly unmineralized sedimentary basins remain some of the least understood aspects of these mineral systems. Herein...
Authors
Christopher J.M. Lawley, Anne E. McCafferty, Garth E. Graham, Michael G. Gadd, David L. Huston, Karen D. Kelley, Karol Czarnota, Suzanne Paradis, Jan M. Peter, Nathan Hayward, Mike Barlow, Poul Emsbo, Joshua A. Coyan, Carma A. San Juan
Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California Tungsten skarn mineral resource assessment of the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California
A new quantitative mineral resource assessment for tungsten, a critical mineral commodity with highly concentrated production and a moderate risk of global supply disruption, was conducted for the Great Basin region of western Nevada and eastern California. This assessment was part of a larger effort focusing on three regions in the United States and represents the first study of...
Authors
Graham W. Lederer, Federico Solano, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Kevin Denton, Kathryn E. Watts, Celestine N. Mercer, Damon Bickerstaff, Matthew Granitto
Spatiotemporal analysis of changes in lode mining claims around the McDermitt Caldera, northern Nevada and southern Oregon Spatiotemporal analysis of changes in lode mining claims around the McDermitt Caldera, northern Nevada and southern Oregon
Resource managers and agencies involved with planning for future federal land needs are required to complete an assessment of and forecast for future land use every ten years. Predicting mining activities on federal lands is difficult as current regulations do not require disclosure of exploration results. In these cases, historic mining claims may serve as a useful proxy for determining...
Authors
Joshua A. Coyan, Michael L. Zientek, Mark J. Mihalasky
Late Holocene slip rate of the San Andreas fault and its accommodation by creep and moderate-magnitude earthquakes at Parkfield, California Late Holocene slip rate of the San Andreas fault and its accommodation by creep and moderate-magnitude earthquakes at Parkfield, California
Investigation of a right-laterally offset channel at the Miller's Field paleoseismic site yields a late Holocene slip rate of 26.2 +6.4/−4.3 mm/yr (1σ) for the main trace of the San Andreas fault at Parkfield, California. This is the first well-documented geologic slip rate between the Carrizo and creeping sections of the San Andreas fault. This rate is lower than Holocene measurements...
Authors
N.A. Toke, J.R. Arrowsmith, Michael J. Rymer, A. Landgraf, D.E. Haddad, M. Busch, J. Coyan, A. Hannah
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government