USGS Science⌕ Search

SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Mining Geology”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
USGS1995

Hydrology of the North Fork of the Right Fork of Miller Creek, Carbon County, Utah, before, during, and after underground coal mining

From 1988-92 the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, studied the effects of underground coal mining and the resulting subsidence on the hydrologic system near the North Fork of the Right Fork of Miller Creek, Carbon County, Utah. The subsidence caused open fractures at land surface, debris slides, and rockfalls in the canyon above the mined area. Land surface subsided and moved several feet horizontally. The perennial stream and a tributary upstream from the mined area were diverted below the ground by surface fractures where the overburden thickness above the Wattis coal seam is 300 to 500 feet. The reach downstream was dry but flow resumed where the channel traversed the Star Point Sandstone, which forms the aquifer below the coal seams where ground-water discharge provides new base flow. Concentrations of dissolved constituents in the stream water sampled just downstream from the mined area increased from about 300 mg/L (milligrams per liter) to more than 1,500 mg/L, and the water changed from primarily a magnesium calcium bicarbonate to primarily a magnesium sulfate type. Monitored water levels in two wells completed in the perched aquifer(s) above the mine indicate that fractures from subsidence- related deformation drained the perched aquifer in the Blackhawk Formation. The deformation also could have contributed to the decrease in discharge of three springs above the mined area, but discharge from other springs in the area did not change ubstantially; thus, the relation between subsidence and spring discharge, if any, is not clear. No significant changes in the chemical character of water discharging from springs were detected, but the dissolved-solids concentration in water collected from a perched sandstone aquifer overlying the mined coal seams increased during mining activity.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1979

Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Gulkana Quadrangle, Alaska

These summaries of references are designed to aid in library research on metallic and nonmetallic (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) mineral occurrences in the Gulkana quadrangle, Alaska. All references to most reports of the Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies released before June 1, 1979, are summarized. Certain, mainly statistical, reports such as the Annual Minerals Yearbook of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the biennial and annual reports of the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor agencies are not included. Also not included are data on many claims about which little more than their locations is known (for example, some of those in MacKevett and Holloway, 1977 (OF 77-169A), p. 20). These omissions should not be interpreted as a judgement on my part that the claims are not valid mineral occurrences, but only that there are insufficient data to describe any mineral deposit that might be present. This report is divided into three parts: a section made up of summaries of references arranged alphabetically by occurrence name; a section that lists synonyms for names in the first section, the names of operators and owners of mines and prospects, and claim names; and a section that lists, by author, all references summarized in the first section or mentioned in intruductory remarks.

Alaska↗
USGS1980

Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Mount McKinley Quadrangle, Alaska

These summaries of references are designed to aid in library research on metallic and nonmetallic (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) mineral occurrences in the Mount McKinley quadrangle, Alaska. All references to most reports of the Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies released before November 1, 1979, are summarized. Certain, mainly statistical, reports such as the annual Mineral Yearbook of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the biennial and annual reports of the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies are not included. Also not included are data on many claims about which little more than their locations is known (for example, MacKevett and Holloway, 1977 (OF 77-169A), p. 48). These omissions should not be interpreted as a judgment on my part that the claims are not valid mineral occurrences, but only that there are insufficient data to describe any mineral deposit that might be present. This report is divided into three parts: a section made up of summaries of references arranged alphabetically by occurrence name; a section that lists synonyms for names in the first section, claim names, and the names of operators and owners of mines and prospects; and a section that lists, by author, all references summarized in the first section and in these introductory paragraphs.

Alaska↗
USGS1979

Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Seldovia Quadrangle, Alaska

These summaries of references are designed to aid in library research on metallic and nonmetallic (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) mineral occurrences in the Seldovia quadrangle, Alaska. All references to most reports of the Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies released before September 1, 1979, are summarized. Certain, mainly statistical, reports such as the annual Mineral Yearbook of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the biennial and annual reports of the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies are not included. Also not included are data on many claims about which little more than their locations is known (for example, MacKevett and Holloway, 1977 (OF 77-169A), p. 55). These omissions should not be interpreted as a judgment on my part that the claims are not valid mineral occurrences, but only that there are insufficient data to describe any mineral deposit that might be present. This report is divided into three parts: a section made up of summaries of references arranged alphabetically by occurrence name; a section that lists synonyms for names in the first section, claim names, and the names of operators and owners of mines and prospects; and a section that lists, by author, all references summarized in the first section and in these introductory paragraphs.

Alaska↗
USGS1979

Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Mount Hayes Quadrangle, Alaska

These summaries of references are designed to aid in library research on metallic and nonmetallic (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) mineral occurrences in the Mount Hayes quadrangle, Alaska. References to most reports of the Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies released before September 1, 1978, are summarized. Certain, mainly statistical, reports such as the annual Minerals Yearbook of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and most biennial and annual reports of the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and its predecessor State and Territorial agencies are not included.

Alaska↗
USGS1982

Geology and ore deposits of the Section 23 Mine, Ambrosia Lake District, New Mexico

The section 23 mine is one of about 18 large uranium mines opened in sandstones of the fluvial Westwater Canyon Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation in the Ambrosia Lake mining district during the early 1960s. The Ambrosia Lake district is one of several mining districts within the Grants mineral belt, an elongate zone containing many uranium deposits along the southern flank of the San Juan basin. Two distinct types of ore occur in the mine. Primary ore occurs as peneconcordant layers of uranium-rich authigenic organic matter that impregnates parts of the reduced sandstone host rocks and which are typically elongate in an east-southeast direction subparallel both to the sedimentary trends and to the present-day regional strike of the strata. These are called prefault or trend ores because of their early genesis and their elongation and alinement. A second type of ore in the mine is referred to as postfault, stacked, or redistributed ore. Its genesis was similar to that of the roll-type deposits in Tertiary rocks of Wyoming and Texas. Oxidation, related to the development of a large tongue of oxidized rock extending from Gallup to Ambrosia Lake, destroyed much of the primary ore and redistributed it as massive accumulations of lower grade ores bordering the redox interface at the edge of the tongue. Host rocks in the southern half of sec. 23 (T. 14 N., R. 10 W.) are oxidized and contain only remnants of the original, tabular, organic-rich ore. Thick bodies of roll-type ore are distributed along the leading edge of the oxidized zone, and pristine primary ore is found only near the north edge of the section. Organic matter in the primary ore was derived from humic acids that precipitated in the pores of the sandstones and fixed uranium as both coffinite and urano-organic compounds. Vanadium, molybdenum, and selenium are also associated with the ore. The secondary or roll-type ores are essentially free of organic carbon and contain uranium both as coffinite and uraninite. They also contain vanadium and selenium but are virtually devoid of molybdenum. Although much has been learned about these deposits since the time this study was conducted, in 1966, a great deal more study will by required to completely elucidate their geologic history.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1950

Geologic investigation at the site of the post office building, Welch, West Virginia

Statement of Problem: Cracking in the interior and exterior walls of the post office building at Welch, West Virginia, developed in the summer of 1947. This cracking appeared about two months after the patching of similar cracks that had developed in 1946. The Public Buildings Administration was requested to investigate the damage. They, in turn, requested the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to furnish representatives to work with their engineer in determining the cause of the cracking. The press gave widespread publicity to the cracking of walls in the post office and other buildings in Welch. This report explains how the investigation was conducted, describes topographic, geologic, and mining conditions found during the field examination, and draws conclusions based on the facts observed.

West Virginia↗
USGS1995

Geology of epithermal silver-gold bulk-mining targets, bodie district, Mono County, California

The Bodie mining district in Mono County, California, is zoned with a core polymetallic-quartz vein system and silver- and gold-bearing quartz-adularia veins north and south of the core. The veins formed as a result of repeated normal faulting during doming shortly after extrusion of felsic flows and tuffs, and the magmatic-hydrothermal event seems to span at least 2 Ma. Epithermal mineralization accompanied repeated movement of the normal faults, resulting in vein development in the planes of the faults. The veins occur in a very large area of argillic alteration. Individual mineralized structures commonly formed new fracture planes during separate fault movements, with resulting broad zones of veinlets growing in the walls of the major vein-faults. The veinlet swarms have been found to constitute a target estimated at 75,000,000 tons, averaging 0.037 ounce gold per ton. The target is amenable to bulkmining exploitation. The epithermal mineralogy is simple, with electrum being the most important precious metal mineral. The host veins are typical low-sulfide banded epithermal quartz and adularia structures that filled voids created by the faulting. Historical data show that beneficiation of the simple vein mineralogy is very efficient. ?? 1995 Oxford University Press.

Nonrenewable Resources↗