Philip Verplanck is a Research Geologist with the Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center.
Science and Products
Source, transport and deposition of critical minerals using trace metal and isotope systematics: Denver High Resolution Laboratory
The project objective is to develop and apply solution and in situ isotopic and trace element methods to emerging research opportunities to gain a better understanding of the processes controlling critical mineral deposits, metal mobility, and other geological inquiries.
Evaluation of Critical Elements in Carbonatites
The project objective is to determine the processes responsible for critical element enrichment in carbonatites and to enhance our ability to identify and assess economic deposits. This project will work at various scales to meet this objective and will primarily focus on deposits within the US or our Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative collaborative Nations Canada and Australia.
Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes
Understanding the genesis of ore deposits and their behavior in the environment is a subject of great importance to the Nation. A relatively new tool to aid in these efforts to investigate the origin and environmental effects of ore deposits is the use of "heavy" metal stable isotopes. Our research objectives are to utilize various isotopic systems to advance our understanding of ore genesis and...
Critical Elements in Carbonatites: From Exploration Targets to Element Distribution
Critical elements are essential to the modern economy and have potential supply chain disruptions, but compared to most base and precious metals, little work has been done in understanding ore-grade enrichments. Carbonatites are the primary source of the worlds light rare earth elements and niobium, and a potential source for heavy rare earths, scandium, tantalum, and thorium. Project objectives...
Fluids in Rare Earth Element (REE) Ore Genesis
The project objective is to better understand the role fluids play in the formation of ore-grade rare earth element enrichment. In many rare earth element deposits, enrichment of rare earth elements is largely controlled by their transport in fluids (orthomagmatic, hydrothermal, groundwater). The project focuses on carbonatite-related deposits because these deposits are the world's primary source...
Geochemical data for carbonatite samples from the Mountain Pass rare earth element deposit, southeast California
This data release contains whole-rock major, minor, and trace element geochemical data for carbonatite samples from the Mountain Pass rare earth element (REE) deposit located in southeastern California. The Mountain Pass deposit is the largest REE deposit in the United States and in 2021, produced 43,000 metric tons (expressed as rare-earth-oxide equivalent; U.S. Geological Survey, 2022). Samples
Strontium isotopic data from the Mount Emmons-Redwell area, Crested Butte, Colorado
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains strontium isotopic data from water and rock samples collected between 2000 and 2019 from the Mount Emmons area, central Colorado. The data include strontium isotopic compositions, 87Sr/86Sr, for surface- and groundwater samples collected from streams, springs, draining mines, piezometers, and drill holes and for leachates of rock samples col
Whole rock major, minor, and trace element geochemistry of the upper part of the Mount Emmons-Redwell porphyry molybdenum (Climax-type) deposit, Redwell Basin, Crested Butte, Colorado
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides whole rock major, minor, and trace element geochemical data from the fluorine-rich Mount Emmons-Redwell porphyry molybdenum (Climax-type) deposit (Mt. Emmons-Redwell deposit), located approximately 5.6 km (3.5 mi) northwest of Crested Butte, Colorado. The Mt. Emmons-Redwell deposit partly underlies Redwell Basin on the northwest flank of Mou
Geochemical data for the Elk Creek alkaline complex, southeast Nebraska
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains analytical data from a suite of rock and mineral samples collected from drill core within the Elk Creek alkaline complex, southeast Nebraska. This complex hosts the Elk Creek carbonatite, a multilithologic carbonatite enriched in niobium, rare earth elements (REEs), scandium, and titanium. Mineralized carbonatites are the world's prim
Geochemical analyses of surface water, groundwater and springs surrounding Mount Emmons near Crested Butte, Colorado (ver. 2.0, September 2020)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS), and Coal Creek Watershed Coalition (CCWC) working independently, have intermittently collected samples of surface- and groundwater and springs around Mount Emmons, near Crested Butte, Colorado. This data release is a compilation of the comprehensive inorganic chemical analyses conducted as a result of th
Whole-rock geochemical data for the Bear Lodge alkaline complex, Wyoming: 2009 - 2013
This data release contains analytical data from a suite of rock samples collected within the Bear Lodge alkaline complex, northeast Wyoming, which hosts the Bear Lodge rare earth element (REE) deposit. Geochemistry data include major and trace element analytical results for 105 samples including alkaline igneous rocks, carbonatites, and weathered and oxidized samples. Samples were collected from s
Ferricrete, manganocrete, and bog iron occurrences with selected sedge bogs and active iron bogs and springs in the upper Animas River watershed, San Juan County, Colorado
During 1996 to 2000, the Bureau of Land Management, National
Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency, United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, and the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a coordinated
strategy to (1) study the environmental effects of
historical mining on Federal lands, and (2) remediate
contaminated s
Filter Total Items: 79
The truth is in the stream: Use of tracer techniques and synoptic sampling to evaluate metal loading and remedial options in a hydrologically complex setting
Two synoptic sampling campaigns were conducted to quantify metal loading to Illinois Gulch, a
small stream affected by historical mining activities. The first campaign was designed to
determine the degree to which Illinois Gulch loses water to the underlying mine workings, and to
determine the effect of these losses on observed metal loads. The second campaign was designed to evaluate metal loadin
Authors
Robert L. Runkel, Philip Verplanck, Katherine Walton-Day, R. Blaine McCleskey, Patrick Byrne
Cathodoluminescence response of barite at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures
Rare earth element (REE) enrichment in the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska USA, is comparable to ore grade enrichment in carbonatite-hosted REE deposits[1]. Petrographic examination of textures documents a complex history of crystallization, brecciation, recrystallization, oxidation, and near surface alteration. Barite (BaSO4) is present in most units, including REE-enriched zones, such that it ma
Authors
Heather A. Lowers, Colin MacRae, Nick Wilson, Philip Verplanck
Petrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA
Although carbonatites are the primary source of the world’s rare earth elements (REEs), the processes responsible for ore-grade REE enrichment in carbonatites are still poorly understood. In this study, we present a petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evaluation of the Elk Creek carbonatite in southeast Nebraska to constrain the origin of REE mineralization. The Elk Creek carbonatite is a multil
Authors
Philip Verplanck, G. Lang Farmer, Richard M. Kettler, Heather A. Lowers, Craig A. Johnson, Alan E. Koenig, Michael J. Blessington
Book review: Rare earth element resources: Indian context
Rare Earth Element Resources: Indian Context. Yamuna Singh. 2020. ISBN 978-3-030-41353-8. Society of Earth Scientists Series, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 269 Pp. Hardcover and eBook. €93.08Rare Earth Element Resources: Indian Context by Yamuna Singh provides an excellent review of rare earth element (REE) deposits and occurrences in India with an emphasis on placer deposits, India’s most notable
Authors
Philip Verplanck
Rare earth element deposits in China: A review and new understandings
No abstract available.
Authors
Yuling Xie, Philip Verplanck, Zengqian Hou, Richen Zhong
A 20-year record of water chemistry in an alpine setting, Mount Emmons, Colorado, USA
From 1997 to the present, the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies have been collecting water samples for chemical analyses on Mount Emmons in central Colorado, USA. The geology of Mount Emmons is dominated by Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene sediments of marine to continental origin, with felsic intrusive rocks interrupting the sedimentary block. Extensive sulphide-rich alteration accompanied t
Authors
Richard Wanty, Andrew H. Manning, Michaela Johnson, Philip Verplanck
Aluminum mobility in mildly acidic mine drainage: Interactions between hydrobasaluminite, silica and trace metals from the nano to the meso-scale
Aluminum precipitates control the hydrochemistry and mineralogy of a broad variety of environments on Earth (e.g., acid mine drainage, AMD, coastal wetlands, boreal and alpine streams, tropical acid sulfate soils, laterites and bauxites, …). However, the geochemical and mineralogical processes controlling Al (and other associated metals and metalloids) transport and removal in those environments a
Authors
Manuel A. Caraballo, Richard Wanty, Philip Verplanck, Leonardo Navarro-Valdivia, Carlos Ayora, Michael Hochella
Rare earth element mineral deposits in the United States
Because of their unique special chemical properties, many of the metals in the group of rare earth elements (REEs) have essential applications in 21st century technologies. Examples of products that use REEs are cell phones, computers, fluorescent and light-emitting-diode lights, flat-screen television and computer monitors, and in high-strength magnets used by clean energy technologies such as th
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Philip L. Verplanck, Poul Emsbo
The ~1.85 Ga carbonatite in north China and its implications on the evolution of the Columbia supercontinent
Mantle-derived carbonatites provide a unique window in the understanding of mantle characteristics and dynamics, as well as insight into the assembly and breakup of supercontinents. As a petrological indicator of extensional tectonic regimes, Archean/Proterozoic carbonatites provide important constraints on the timing of the breakup of ancient supercontinents. The majority of the carbonatites repo
Authors
Yuling Xie, Yunwei Qu, Richen Zhong, Philip L. Verplanck, Sebastien Meffre, Daoxue Xu
Strategic and critical metals in produced geothermal fluids from Nevada and Utah
Herein we summarize the results of an investigation dealing with the concentrations and inventories of strategic, critical and valuable materials (SCVM) in produced fluids from geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs (50-250° C) in Nevada and Utah. Water samples were collected from thirty-four production wells across eight geothermal fields, the Uinta Basin oil/gas province in northeast Utah, and th
Authors
Stuart F. Simmons, Stephe H. Kirby, Philip L. Verplanck, Karen Duttweiler Kelley
Cinnamon gulch revisited: Another look at separating natural and mining-impacted contributions to instream metal load
Baseline, premining data for streams draining abandoned mine lands is virtually non existent, and indirect methods for estimating premining conditions are needed to establish realistic, cost effective cleanup goals. One such indirect method is the proximal analog approach, in which premining conditions are estimated using data from nearby mineralized areas that are unaffected by mining. In this pa
Authors
Robert L. Runkel, Philip L. Verplanck, Briant Kimball, Katherine Walton-Day
Rare-earth elements
The rare-earth elements (REEs) are 15 elements that range in atomic number from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium); they are commonly referred to as the “lanthanides.” Yttrium (atomic number 39) is also commonly regarded as an REE because it shares chemical and physical similarities and has affinities with the lanthanides. Although REEs are not rare in terms of average crustal abundance, the concentr
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Philip L. Verplanck, Robert R. Seal, Keith R. Long, Joseph Gambogi
Science and Products
- Science
Source, transport and deposition of critical minerals using trace metal and isotope systematics: Denver High Resolution Laboratory
The project objective is to develop and apply solution and in situ isotopic and trace element methods to emerging research opportunities to gain a better understanding of the processes controlling critical mineral deposits, metal mobility, and other geological inquiries.Evaluation of Critical Elements in Carbonatites
The project objective is to determine the processes responsible for critical element enrichment in carbonatites and to enhance our ability to identify and assess economic deposits. This project will work at various scales to meet this objective and will primarily focus on deposits within the US or our Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative collaborative Nations Canada and Australia.Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes
Understanding the genesis of ore deposits and their behavior in the environment is a subject of great importance to the Nation. A relatively new tool to aid in these efforts to investigate the origin and environmental effects of ore deposits is the use of "heavy" metal stable isotopes. Our research objectives are to utilize various isotopic systems to advance our understanding of ore genesis and...Critical Elements in Carbonatites: From Exploration Targets to Element Distribution
Critical elements are essential to the modern economy and have potential supply chain disruptions, but compared to most base and precious metals, little work has been done in understanding ore-grade enrichments. Carbonatites are the primary source of the worlds light rare earth elements and niobium, and a potential source for heavy rare earths, scandium, tantalum, and thorium. Project objectives...Fluids in Rare Earth Element (REE) Ore Genesis
The project objective is to better understand the role fluids play in the formation of ore-grade rare earth element enrichment. In many rare earth element deposits, enrichment of rare earth elements is largely controlled by their transport in fluids (orthomagmatic, hydrothermal, groundwater). The project focuses on carbonatite-related deposits because these deposits are the world's primary source... - Data
Geochemical data for carbonatite samples from the Mountain Pass rare earth element deposit, southeast California
This data release contains whole-rock major, minor, and trace element geochemical data for carbonatite samples from the Mountain Pass rare earth element (REE) deposit located in southeastern California. The Mountain Pass deposit is the largest REE deposit in the United States and in 2021, produced 43,000 metric tons (expressed as rare-earth-oxide equivalent; U.S. Geological Survey, 2022). SamplesStrontium isotopic data from the Mount Emmons-Redwell area, Crested Butte, Colorado
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains strontium isotopic data from water and rock samples collected between 2000 and 2019 from the Mount Emmons area, central Colorado. The data include strontium isotopic compositions, 87Sr/86Sr, for surface- and groundwater samples collected from streams, springs, draining mines, piezometers, and drill holes and for leachates of rock samples colWhole rock major, minor, and trace element geochemistry of the upper part of the Mount Emmons-Redwell porphyry molybdenum (Climax-type) deposit, Redwell Basin, Crested Butte, Colorado
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides whole rock major, minor, and trace element geochemical data from the fluorine-rich Mount Emmons-Redwell porphyry molybdenum (Climax-type) deposit (Mt. Emmons-Redwell deposit), located approximately 5.6 km (3.5 mi) northwest of Crested Butte, Colorado. The Mt. Emmons-Redwell deposit partly underlies Redwell Basin on the northwest flank of MouGeochemical data for the Elk Creek alkaline complex, southeast Nebraska
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains analytical data from a suite of rock and mineral samples collected from drill core within the Elk Creek alkaline complex, southeast Nebraska. This complex hosts the Elk Creek carbonatite, a multilithologic carbonatite enriched in niobium, rare earth elements (REEs), scandium, and titanium. Mineralized carbonatites are the world's primGeochemical analyses of surface water, groundwater and springs surrounding Mount Emmons near Crested Butte, Colorado (ver. 2.0, September 2020)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS), and Coal Creek Watershed Coalition (CCWC) working independently, have intermittently collected samples of surface- and groundwater and springs around Mount Emmons, near Crested Butte, Colorado. This data release is a compilation of the comprehensive inorganic chemical analyses conducted as a result of thWhole-rock geochemical data for the Bear Lodge alkaline complex, Wyoming: 2009 - 2013
This data release contains analytical data from a suite of rock samples collected within the Bear Lodge alkaline complex, northeast Wyoming, which hosts the Bear Lodge rare earth element (REE) deposit. Geochemistry data include major and trace element analytical results for 105 samples including alkaline igneous rocks, carbonatites, and weathered and oxidized samples. Samples were collected from s - Maps
Ferricrete, manganocrete, and bog iron occurrences with selected sedge bogs and active iron bogs and springs in the upper Animas River watershed, San Juan County, Colorado
During 1996 to 2000, the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a coordinated strategy to (1) study the environmental effects of historical mining on Federal lands, and (2) remediate contaminated s - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 79
The truth is in the stream: Use of tracer techniques and synoptic sampling to evaluate metal loading and remedial options in a hydrologically complex setting
Two synoptic sampling campaigns were conducted to quantify metal loading to Illinois Gulch, a small stream affected by historical mining activities. The first campaign was designed to determine the degree to which Illinois Gulch loses water to the underlying mine workings, and to determine the effect of these losses on observed metal loads. The second campaign was designed to evaluate metal loadinAuthorsRobert L. Runkel, Philip Verplanck, Katherine Walton-Day, R. Blaine McCleskey, Patrick ByrneCathodoluminescence response of barite at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures
Rare earth element (REE) enrichment in the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska USA, is comparable to ore grade enrichment in carbonatite-hosted REE deposits[1]. Petrographic examination of textures documents a complex history of crystallization, brecciation, recrystallization, oxidation, and near surface alteration. Barite (BaSO4) is present in most units, including REE-enriched zones, such that it maAuthorsHeather A. Lowers, Colin MacRae, Nick Wilson, Philip VerplanckPetrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA
Although carbonatites are the primary source of the world’s rare earth elements (REEs), the processes responsible for ore-grade REE enrichment in carbonatites are still poorly understood. In this study, we present a petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evaluation of the Elk Creek carbonatite in southeast Nebraska to constrain the origin of REE mineralization. The Elk Creek carbonatite is a multilAuthorsPhilip Verplanck, G. Lang Farmer, Richard M. Kettler, Heather A. Lowers, Craig A. Johnson, Alan E. Koenig, Michael J. BlessingtonBook review: Rare earth element resources: Indian context
Rare Earth Element Resources: Indian Context. Yamuna Singh. 2020. ISBN 978-3-030-41353-8. Society of Earth Scientists Series, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 269 Pp. Hardcover and eBook. €93.08Rare Earth Element Resources: Indian Context by Yamuna Singh provides an excellent review of rare earth element (REE) deposits and occurrences in India with an emphasis on placer deposits, India’s most notableAuthorsPhilip VerplanckRare earth element deposits in China: A review and new understandings
No abstract available.AuthorsYuling Xie, Philip Verplanck, Zengqian Hou, Richen ZhongA 20-year record of water chemistry in an alpine setting, Mount Emmons, Colorado, USA
From 1997 to the present, the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies have been collecting water samples for chemical analyses on Mount Emmons in central Colorado, USA. The geology of Mount Emmons is dominated by Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene sediments of marine to continental origin, with felsic intrusive rocks interrupting the sedimentary block. Extensive sulphide-rich alteration accompanied tAuthorsRichard Wanty, Andrew H. Manning, Michaela Johnson, Philip VerplanckAluminum mobility in mildly acidic mine drainage: Interactions between hydrobasaluminite, silica and trace metals from the nano to the meso-scale
Aluminum precipitates control the hydrochemistry and mineralogy of a broad variety of environments on Earth (e.g., acid mine drainage, AMD, coastal wetlands, boreal and alpine streams, tropical acid sulfate soils, laterites and bauxites, …). However, the geochemical and mineralogical processes controlling Al (and other associated metals and metalloids) transport and removal in those environments aAuthorsManuel A. Caraballo, Richard Wanty, Philip Verplanck, Leonardo Navarro-Valdivia, Carlos Ayora, Michael HochellaRare earth element mineral deposits in the United States
Because of their unique special chemical properties, many of the metals in the group of rare earth elements (REEs) have essential applications in 21st century technologies. Examples of products that use REEs are cell phones, computers, fluorescent and light-emitting-diode lights, flat-screen television and computer monitors, and in high-strength magnets used by clean energy technologies such as thAuthorsBradley S. Van Gosen, Philip L. Verplanck, Poul EmsboThe ~1.85 Ga carbonatite in north China and its implications on the evolution of the Columbia supercontinent
Mantle-derived carbonatites provide a unique window in the understanding of mantle characteristics and dynamics, as well as insight into the assembly and breakup of supercontinents. As a petrological indicator of extensional tectonic regimes, Archean/Proterozoic carbonatites provide important constraints on the timing of the breakup of ancient supercontinents. The majority of the carbonatites repoAuthorsYuling Xie, Yunwei Qu, Richen Zhong, Philip L. Verplanck, Sebastien Meffre, Daoxue XuStrategic and critical metals in produced geothermal fluids from Nevada and Utah
Herein we summarize the results of an investigation dealing with the concentrations and inventories of strategic, critical and valuable materials (SCVM) in produced fluids from geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs (50-250° C) in Nevada and Utah. Water samples were collected from thirty-four production wells across eight geothermal fields, the Uinta Basin oil/gas province in northeast Utah, and thAuthorsStuart F. Simmons, Stephe H. Kirby, Philip L. Verplanck, Karen Duttweiler KelleyCinnamon gulch revisited: Another look at separating natural and mining-impacted contributions to instream metal load
Baseline, premining data for streams draining abandoned mine lands is virtually non existent, and indirect methods for estimating premining conditions are needed to establish realistic, cost effective cleanup goals. One such indirect method is the proximal analog approach, in which premining conditions are estimated using data from nearby mineralized areas that are unaffected by mining. In this paAuthorsRobert L. Runkel, Philip L. Verplanck, Briant Kimball, Katherine Walton-DayRare-earth elements
The rare-earth elements (REEs) are 15 elements that range in atomic number from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium); they are commonly referred to as the “lanthanides.” Yttrium (atomic number 39) is also commonly regarded as an REE because it shares chemical and physical similarities and has affinities with the lanthanides. Although REEs are not rare in terms of average crustal abundance, the concentrAuthorsBradley S. Van Gosen, Philip L. Verplanck, Robert R. Seal, Keith R. Long, Joseph Gambogi