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Thomas P. Frost, Ph.D.

Tom is a Scientist Emeritus at Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He came to USGS in 1983 starting at Menlo Park, CA and in 1989 moved to the Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center in Spokane,

Tom has worked on granite petrology, regional geology, mineral resource assessments, and environmental/ecosystem assessments in California, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. He currently serves as Deputy Center Director for the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, which has offices throughout the Pacific-Rim states, plus Arizona.

Education and Certifications

  • B.A. in Geology, University of California Santa Barbara, 1975

  • Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, Stanford University, 1986

Science and Products

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Image shows a map illustration with sagebrush focal areas marked in different colors

Databases and Information Analysis

Our objectives are to: 1) collect and assimilate digital geospatial data in a standardized format for minerals-related research and assessments, 2) develop and improve analytical procedures for using geospatial data in minerals products, 3) provide support for timely, quality, and reproducible mineral assessments, 4) provide easy access to the data, and 5) report results of our work in a digital...
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
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Databases and Information Analysis

Our objectives are to: 1) collect and assimilate digital geospatial data in a standardized format for minerals-related research and assessments, 2) develop and improve analytical procedures for using geospatial data in minerals products, 3) provide support for timely, quality, and reproducible mineral assessments, 4) provide easy access to the data, and 5) report results of our work in a digital...
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Image shows sagebrush lands with cloudy sky

Sagebrush Mineral Resource Assessment

The USGS Mineral Resources Program completed a comprehensive assessment and inventory of potential mineral resources covering approximately10 million acres of federal and adjacent lands in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Sagebrush Mineral Resource Assessment

The USGS Mineral Resources Program completed a comprehensive assessment and inventory of potential mineral resources covering approximately10 million acres of federal and adjacent lands in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
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Geologic map of the St. Maries 30 x 60 minute quadrangle, Idaho

No abstract available.
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Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 16

Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin,

In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of critical minerals, the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was established to identify and prioritize areas for acquisition of new geologic mapping, geophysical data, and elevation data to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework of the United States. Phase 1 of Earth MRI concentrated on those geologic terrane
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Energy and Minerals, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

USGS mineral-resource assessment of Sagebrush Focal Areas in the western United States

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have completed an assessment of the mineral-resource potential of nearly 10 million acres of Federal and adjacent lands in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. The assessment of these lands, identified as Sagebrush Focal Areas, was done at the request of the Bureau of Land Management. The assessment results will be used in the decision-making
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Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Land Management Research Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming

Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089 and accompanying data releases are the products of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment (SaMiRA). The assessment was done at the request of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to evaluate the mineral-resource potential of some 10 million acres of Federal and adjacent lands in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyo
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Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Land Management Research Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, National Minerals Information Center

Overview with methods and procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey mineral-resource assessment of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming: Chapter A in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Mont

This report, chapter A of Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089, provides an overview of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment (SaMiRA). The report also describes the methods, procedures, and voluminous fundamental reference information used throughout the assessment. Data from several major publicly available databases and other published sources were used t
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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

Geologic history of the Blackbird Co-Cu district in the Lemhi subbasin of the Belt-Purcell Basin

The Blackbird cobalt-copper (Co-Cu) district in the Salmon River Mountains of east-central Idaho occupies the central part of the Idaho cobalt belt—a northwest-elongate, 55-km-long belt of Co-Cu occurrences, hosted in grayish siliciclastic metasedimentary strata of the Lemhi subbasin (of the Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Basin). The Blackbird district contains at least eight stratabound ore zones a
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Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Porphyry copper assessment of northeast Asia: Far East Russia and northeasternmost China: Chapter W in Global mineral resource assessment

The U.S. Geological Survey assesses resources (mineral, energy, water, environmental, and biologic) at regional, national, and global scales to provide science in support of land management and decision making. Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about where mineral deposits are known and suspected to be in the Earth’s crust, which commodities may be present,
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Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Porphyry copper assessment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides: China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India: Chapter X in Global mineral resource assessment

The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with international colleagues to assess undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides. These areas host 20 known porphyry copper deposits, including the world class Oyu Tolgoi deposit in Mongolia that was discovered in the late 1990s. The study area covers major parts of the world’s largest oroge
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Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Porphyry copper assessment of the Mesozoic of East Asia: China, Vietnam, North Korea, Mongolia, and Russia: Chapter G in Global mineral resource assessment

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborated with the China Geological Survey (CGS) to conduct a mineral resource assessment of Mesozoic porphyry copper deposits in East Asia. This area hosts several very large porphyry deposits, exemplified by the Dexing deposit in eastern China that contains more than 8,000,000 metric tons of copper. In addition, large parts of the area are undergoing active e
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Mineral Resources Program

Porphyry copper assessment of British Columbia and Yukon Territory, Canada: Chapter C in Global mineral resource assessment

The U.S. Geological Survey does regional, national, and global assessments of resources (mineral, energy, water, biologic) to provide science in support of land management and decision making. Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about where mineral deposits are known and suspected to be in the Earth’s crust, which commodities may be present, and estimates of a
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Mineral Resources Program

Stream-Sediment Geochemistry in Mining-Impacted Drainages of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River, Custer County, Idaho

This reconnaissance study was undertaken at the request of the USDA Forest Service, Region 4, to assess the geochemistry, in particular the mercury and selenium contents, of mining-impacted sediments in the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River in Custer County Idaho. The Yankee Fork has been the site of hard-rock and placer mining, primarily for gold and silver, starting in the 1880s. Major dredge plac
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Mineral Resources Program

Relational database for the geology of the northern Rocky Mountains— Idaho, Montana, and Washington

A relational database was created to prepare and organize geologic map-unit and lithologic descriptions for input into a spatial database for the geology of the northern Rocky Mountains, a compilation of forty-three geologic maps for parts of Idaho, Montana, and Washington in U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2005-1235. Not all of the information was transferred to and incorporated in the sp
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Mineral Resources Program

Copper-silver deposits of the Revett Formation, Montana and Idaho: origin and resource potential

The Revett Formation of northern Idaho and western Montana contains major stratabound copper-silver deposits near Troy, Rock Creek, and Rock Lake, Montana. To help the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) meet its goal of integrating geoscience information into the land-planning process, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists recently completed a compilation of regional stratigraphy and mineralogy of the

GIS and Data Tables for Focus Areas for Potential Domestic Nonfuel Sources of Rare Earth Elements

In response to Executive Order 13817 of December 20, 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) coordinated with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to identify 35 nonfuel minerals or mineral materials considered critical to the economic and national security of the United States (U.S.). Acquiring information on possible domestic sources of these critical minerals is the basis of the USGS Earth Mappi
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

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