SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Mineral Resources of the United States”

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

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

USGS1995

Geologic map of the Sherbrooke-Lewiston area, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, United States, and Quebec, Canada

This map is part of a folio of maps of the Lewiston 1 ° x 2° quadrangle, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and part of the Sherbrooke 1 ° x 2° quadrangle, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, United States, and Quebec, Canada, prepared under the Conterminous United States Mineral Assessment Program (CUSMAP). Adjacent areas in Quebec are shown, in order to illustrate the geologic continuity between northwestern Maine and northern Vermont and New Hampshire. Other results of the project are contained in reports by Nowlan and others (1990a,b,c; stream sediment geochemistry), and Cox (1990; potential tin resources related to the White Mountain Plutonic-Volcanic Suite), Bothner and others (in press; complete Bouguer gravity and aeromagnetic maps), Moench and Boudette (in press, geologic synthesis and mineral occurrence map), and Moench (in press; metallic mineral resources).

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec↗

USGS1986

USGS research on energy resources, 1986; program and abstracts

The extended abstracts in this volume are summaries of the papers presented orally and as posters in the second V. E. McKelvey Forum on Mineral and Energy Resources, entitled "USGS Research on Energy Resources-1986." The Forum has been established to improve communication between the USGS and the earth science community by presenting the results of current USGS research on nonrenewable resources in a timely fashion and by providing an opportunity for individuals from other organizations to meet informally with USGS scientists and managers. It is our hope that the McKelvey Forum will help to make USGS programs more responsive to the needs of the earth science community, particularly the mining and petroleum industries, and Win foster closer cooperation between organizations and individuals. The Forum was named after former Director Vincent E. McKelvey in recognition of his lifelong contributions to research, development, and administration in mineral and energy resources, as a scientist, as Chief Geologist, and as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. The Forum will be an annual event, and its subject matter will alternate between mineral and energy resources. We expect that the format will change somewhat from year to year as various approaches are tried, but its primary purpose will remain the same: to encourage direct communication between USGS scientists and the representatives of other earth-science related organizations. Energy programs of the USGS include oil and gas, coal, geothermal, uranium-thorium, and oil shale; work in these programs spans the national domain, including surveys of the offshore Exclusive Economic Zone. The topics selected for presentation at this McKelvey Forum represent an overview of the scientific breadth of USGS research on energy resources. They include aspects of petroleum occurrence in Eastern United States rift basins, the origin of magnetic anomalies over oil fields, accreted terranes and energy-resource implications, coal quality, geothermal energy sources, integrated geology and chemistry in uranium-deposit studies, and interpretations of sea-floor geology seen in reconnaissance-scale sidescan-sonar mosaics of the Gulf of Mexico and west coast Exclusive Economic Zone. Data are presented that are being used in building models of geothermal energy settings, basin histories, and the occurrence of energy resources. In addition to the technical sessions presenting the results of USGS research, each congressionally mandated USGS Mineral Resource Program has a display outlining plans and progress. We are all excited about this continuing opportunity to disseminate and discuss our research with our colleagues in industry and academia, and we welcome your suggestions on improving this series of Forums.

Circular↗

USGS1922

Guidebook of the western United States: Part E - The Denver & Rio Grande Western route

The United States of America comprise an area so vast in extent and so diverse in natural features as well as in characters due to human agency that the American citizen who knows thoroughly his own country must have traveled widely and observed wisely. To 'know America first' is a patriotic obligation, but to meet this obligation the railroad traveler needs to have his eyes directed toward the more important or essential things within his field of vision and then to have much that he sees explained by what is unseen in the swift passage of the train. Indeed, many things that attract his attention are inexplicable except as the story of the past is available to enable him to interpret the present. Herein lie the value and the charm of history, whether human or geologic. The present stimulus given to travel in the home country will encourage many thousands of Americans to study geography at first hand. To make this study most profitable the traveler needs a handbook that will answer the questions that come to his mind so readily along the way. Furthermore, the aim of such a guide should be to stimulate the eye in the selection of the essentials in the scene that so rapidly unfolds itself in the crossing of the continent. In recognition of the opportunity to render service of this kind to an unusually large number of American citizens, as well as to visitors from other countries, the United States Geological Survey has published a series of guidebooks covering four of the older railroad routes west of the Mississippi. The present volume is an addition to this series and covers one of the finest scenic routes of the continent. These books are educational in purpose, but the method adopted is to entertain the traveler by making more interesting what he sees from the car window. The plan of the series is to present authoritative information that may enable the reader to realize adequately the scenic and material resources of the region he is traversing, to comprehend correctly the basis of its development, and above all to appreciate keenly the real value of the country he looks out upon, not as so many square miles of territory represented on the map in a railroad folder by meaningless spaces, but rather as land - real estate, if you please - varying widely in present appearance because differing largely in its history, and characterized by even greater variation in values because possessing diversified natural resources. One region may be such as to afford a livelihood for only a pastoral people; another may present opportunity for intensive agriculture; still another may contain hidden stores of mineral wealth that may attract large industrial development; and, taken together, these varied resources afford, the promise of long-continued prosperity for this or that State. Items of interest in civic development or references to significant epochs in the record of discovery and settlement may be interspersed. with explanations of mountain and valley or statements of geologic history. In a broad way the story of the West is a unit, and every chapter should be told in order to meet fully the needs of the tourist who aims to understand all that he sees. To such a traveler-reader this series of guidebooks is addressed. To this interpretation of our own country the United States Geological Survey brings the accumulated data of decades of pioneering investigation, and the present contribution is only one type of return to the public which has supported this scientific work under the Federal Government - a by-product of research. In the preparation of the description of the country traversed by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Route the geographic and geologic information already published as well as unpublished material in the possession of the Geological Survey has been utilized, but to supplement this material Mr. Campbell made a field examination of the entire route in 1915-1916. Information has been furnished by others,

Bulletin↗

USGS1977

National coal resource investigations of the United States Geological Survey

The objective of this report is to provide a record of some of the goals and accomplishments of the coal resource investigations of the U. S. Geological Survey for 1977. Successful completion of these goals will aid the Nation in the years ahead because proper usage of coal resource data may lessen economic displacements resulting from the energy shortage. This report is concerned only with one mineral fuel -- coal -- and only with coal resource investigations in the Geologic Division of the U. S. Geological Survey. Other divisions involved with coal or coal-related work are the Conservation, Water Resources, and Topographic Divisions. It is one of a series of reports on the energy resource studies conducted by the Geological Survey that provide a public record of the objectives, activities, and accomplishments of these programs. Similar reports have been prepared on oil and gas, oil shale, uranium, thorium, and energy-related industrial minerals. This report includes descriptions of the program, each sub-element of the program, individual projects, and a selected list of program publications from 1970-76. It also describes how the program is responsive to Presidential pronouncements and Congressional mandates. The program is cooperative with several Federal bureaus, many state agencies, universities, and industry. This coordination assures that the program supplements the work of these interested groups and is not duplicative. A scientific program such as the coal resource investigations is difficult for the non-involved person to understand solely from the existing reports on various studies made in the program. This report provides an explanation that the scientist, decision maker, personnel of other government agencies, and the layman can use to relate various activities and to gain a better understanding of the relation of coal to the Nation's requirements for energy and of the importance of a carefully planned program on this energy resource.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2009

Mineral Commodity Summaries 2009

Each chapter of the 2009 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2008 mineral production data for the world. More than 90 individual minerals and materials are covered by two-page synopses. For mineral commodities for which there is a Government stockpile, detailed information concerning the stockpile status is included in the two-page synopsis. Because specific information concerning committed inventory was no longer available from the Defense Logistics Agency, National Defense Stockpile Center, that information, which was included in earlier Mineral Commodity Summaries publications, has been deleted from Mineral Commodity Summaries 2009. National reserves and reserve base information for most mineral commodities found in this report, including those for the United States, are derived from a variety of sources. The ideal source of such information would be comprehensive evaluations that apply the same criteria to deposits in different geographic areas and report the results by country. In the absence of such evaluations, national reserves and reserve base estimates compiled by countries for selected mineral commodities are a primary source of national reserves and reserve base information. Lacking national assessment information by governments, sources such as academic articles, company reports, common business practice, presentations by company representatives, and trade journal articles, or a combination of these, serve as the basis for national reserves and reserve base information reported in the mineral commodity sections of this publication. A national estimate may be assembled from the following: historically reported reserves and reserve base information carried for years without alteration because no new information is available; historically reported reserves and reserve base reduced by the amount of historical production; and company reported reserves. International minerals availability studies conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, before 1996, and estimates of identified resources by an international collaborative effort (the International Strategic Minerals Inventory) are the basis for some reserves and reserve base estimates. The USGS collects information about the quantity and quality of mineral resources but does not directly measure reserves, and companies or governments do not directly report reserves or reserve base to the USGS. Reassessment of reserves and reserve base is a continuing process, and the intensity of this process differs for mineral commodities, countries, and time period. Abbreviations and units of measure, and definitions of selected terms used in the report, are in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively. A resource/reserve classification for minerals, based on USGS Circular 831 (published with the U.S. Bureau of Mines) is Appendix C, and a directory of USGS minerals information country specialists and their responsibilities is Appendix D. The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the MCS 2009 are welcomed.

Mineral Commodity Summaries↗

USGS2000

U.S. Geological Survey Activities Related to American Indians and Alaska Natives Fiscal Year 2000

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is an impartial scientific organization that strives to produce scientific results that are relevant to the people of the United States and their land and resource managers. USGS does not improve the quality of its customers' lives; it provides the informational tools for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other customers to understand and improve their own lives. In cooperation with American Indian and Alaska Native governments, the USGS conducts research on water and mineral resources, animals and plants of environmental, economic, or subsistence importance, natural hazards, and geologic resources. Digital data on cartography, mineral resources, stream flows, biota, and other data sets are available to American Indian and Alaska Native institutions. The USGS recognizes the need to learn from and share knowledge with Native peoples. This report describes most of the activities that the USGS conducted with American Indian and Alaska Native governments, educational institutions, and individuals during Federal Fiscal Year 2000. Some of these USGS activities were conducted in concert with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Others were conducted by Tribes and the USGS. In the year 2000, the USGS began examining its activities related to American Indians and Native Alaskans to determine how it can better serve these customers within its mandates. More Tribal governments, educational institutions, and other Tribal organizations are using geographic information systems and other digital technologies in recent years. As Tribes become more interested and more adept at managing digital information, they are seeking such data from the USGS with greater frequency. The increasing use of such technologies allows Tribal governments additional means of managing lands and resources for the benefit of current and future generations. The USGS recognizes the need to make its information available to Tribal governments, and to work with those governments and other institutions to advance data management capabilities. The USGS is responding to this need by increasing the transfer of scientific information to American Indian and Alaska Native governments and by training employees of these governments to conduct and improve scientific studies. The USGS is also encouraging American Indians and Alaska Natives to pursue careers in science, and seeking ways to hire Indian and Native students. By identifying, improving, and disseminating information about available hiring mechanisms, the USGS is working to make hiring such students easier, and therefore more likely, for USGS managers. The U.S. Geological Survey is the Federal science bureau within the Department of the Interior (DoI). The USGS is non-regulatory and is not a significant manager of Federal or Trust lands or assets. However, there are two types of USGS activities that do involve American Indians, Alaska Natives, and their lands. The first type of activity is the course of formal studies, conducted through existing USGS programs, that involve collection of specific types of data as well as investigative and research projects. These projects have a duration of two or three years, although a few are parts of longer-term activities. Some are funded through cooperative agreements or reimbursable accounts, from monies provided to the USGS by individual Tribal governments or by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The USGS provides matching funds for cooperative projects. These formal projects may also receive funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Indian Health Service (part of the Department of Health and Human Services), or other Federal agencies. The USGS routinely works with its sister bureaus in the Department of the Interior to provide the scientific information and expertise needed to meet the Department's science priorities. Within this context, the USGS and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are cooperating to use USGS knowledge for the benefit of American Indian and Native peoples and their lands. The second type of USGS activity is less formal, based on initiatives designed and conducted by USGS employees. Frequently involving educational activities, these endeavors are prompted by employee interests, often as collateral issues, that result from an individual or group of USGS employees identifying and responding to an observed need. In these activities, USGS employees help us fulfill a mission of the USGS, to make science relevant, while helping their fellow citizens. USGS employees have also taken the initiative to assist American Indians and Alaska Natives through participation in several organizations that were created to foster knowledge of science among Native peoples and to help build support and communication networks. One such group is the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). This group sponsors an annual national meeting in which USGS employees participate. USGS employees join this organization on a voluntary basis, paying the costs themselves, yet bringing the benefits of this expanded network to the USGS, as many employees do with other professional organizations. Each part of the USGS has identified an American Indian/Alaska Native liaison. As USGS moves to a more regional organizational structure, it will establish contacts in the Western, Central, and Eastern Regions. Within the USGS, this report will help in developing outreach, educational, and program documents for use in future years. It is hoped that USGS employees, American Indians, and Alaska Natives will adapt these activities in new areas and will use the USGS contacts to expand the relevance of the USGS to more Americans.

Report↗

USGS2025

Mine waste as a potential source of critical minerals and other commodities: Examples from the Four Corners states, USA

The growing demand for critical minerals and other mineral resources has raised concerns about possible supplies of these essential commodities. Mine waste is a potential source of these essential commodities. We compiled a geospatial database of publicly available data of the largest non-fuel mine waste features (>200,000 m 2 in areal extent) in the Four Corners states of the United States, where most of those features are from porphyry Cu deposits. The combined volume of those large porphyry Cu mine waste features is approximately 17 cubic kilometers, 60% of which is ore-related material such as tailings. Using publicly available data on density, grade, and previous recovery values, we estimate the contained endowments of Ag, As, Au, Bi, Cu, Mo, Re, S, Sb, Se, Te, and W. These estimates indicate endowments within ore-related mine wastes are collectively comparable to endowments of giant to supergiant deposits. If fully recovered, these commodities could meet current global demand from less than 1 year (Sb) to more than 200 years (Re), underscoring the enormous untapped resource potential of mine waste.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah↗

USGS2015

Bedrock geologic map of the Spring Valley, West Plains, and parts of the Piedmont and Poplar Bluff 30'x60' quadrangles, Missouri, including the upper Current River and Eleven Point River drainage basins

This map covers the drainage basins of the upper Current River and the Eleven Point River in the Ozark Plateaus physiographic province of southeastern Missouri. The two surface drainage basins are contiguous in their headwaters regions, but are separated in their lower reaches by the lower Black River basin in the southeast corner of the map area. Numerous dye-trace studies demonstrate that in the contiguous headwaters areas, groundwater flows from the Eleven Point River basin into the Current River basin. Much of the groundwater discharge of the Eleven Point River basin emanates from Big Spring, located on the Current River. This geologic map and cross sections were produced to help fulfill a need to understand the geologic framework of the region in which this subsurface flow occurs. The map includes all of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, a national park created by an Act of Congress in 1964 to protect 134 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers in south-central Missouri. Located within the park are numerous large springs, including Big Spring, the largest spring in Missouri and one of the ten largest springs in the world. Also within the map area is Greer Spring, which is the main source of the Eleven Point River. Greer Spring is the largest spring on National Forest land in the United States. During flood, flow from Greer Spring is almost as large, volumetrically, as that from Big Spring. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968 established a 44-mile section of the Eleven Point River as the Eleven Point National Scenic River, which is entirely within the boundaries of this map. Potentially economic mineral resources are present in the subsurface in the map area. Exploration drill-hole data indicate that anomalously high concentrations of base-metal sulfides locally occur within the Cambrian Bonneterre Formation. The geologic setting of these anomalous concentrations is similar to that found in the Viburnum Trend, part of the largest lead-mining district in the world. The southernmost part of the Viburnum Trend extends into the northern part of the map area and is exploited by the Sweetwater Mine. Undeveloped and potentially economic occurrences of base metals are known also beneath Blair Creek, a tributary to the Current River in the north-central part of the map area.

Missouri↗

USGS2025

Estimating the probability of export restrictions to inform mineral criticality

To assess risks associated with advanced technologies’ supply chain disruptions, governmental agencies and others have developed mineral “criticality” assessments, with criticality described using the economic impact and probability of supply chain disruptions. Previous work developed subjective supply risk indicators to approximate this probability, typically combining several factors such as supply diversity and trading partners’ political stability, where indicator weightings can substantially impact results. This work explicitly quantifies export barrier probability using an ensemble of machine learning classifiers, with probability estimates informed by exogenous variables, including prior barrier implementation and global export dominance. Major differences in high-probability countries and commodities are observed across models, but the ensemble method highlights Indonesia, China, Tanzania, and the United States as particularly high risk. The Supplementary Data File provides export barrier probability estimates for each analyzed country-commodity pair, enabling a direct, quantitative, objective contribution to assessing mineral criticality, enhancing risk identification and prioritization for policymakers.

Resources, Conservation, and Recycling↗

USGS1983

Geology and description of thorium and rare-earth deposits in the southern Bear Lodge Mountains, northeastern Wyoming

The Bear Lodge Mountains are a small northerly trending range approximately 16 km northwest of the Black Hills in the northeast corner of Wyoming. Thorium and rare-earth deposits occur over an area of 16 km 2 in the southern part of these mountains. These deposits occur in the core of the Bear Lodge dome in a large multiple intrusive body made up principally of trachyte and phonolite. Two types of deposits are recognized: disseminated deposits and veins. The disseminated deposits are made up of altered igneous rocks cut by numerous crisscrossing veinlets. The disseminated deposits contain thorium and rare-earth minerals in a matrix consisting principally of potassium feldspar, quartz, and iron and manganese oxides. Total rare-earth content of these deposits is about 27 times that of the thorium content. The general size and shape of the disseminated deposits were outlined by making a radiometric map using a scintillation counter of the entire Bear Lodge core, an area of approximately 30 km 2 . The most favorable part of this area, which was outlined by the 40 countJs (count-per-second) isograd on the radiometric map, was sampled in detail. A total of 341 samples were taken over an area of 10.6 km 2 and analyzed for as many as 60 elements. Rare earths and thorium are the principal commodities of interest in these deposits. Total rare-earth content of these samples ranged from 47 to 27,145 ppm (parts per million), and the thorium content from 9.3 to 990 ppm. The amount of total rare earths of individual samples shows little correlation with that of thorium. Contour maps were constructed using the analytical data for total rare earths, thorium, uranium, and potassium. The total rare-earth and thorium maps can be used to define the size of the deposits based on what cut-off grade may be needed during mining. The size is large as the 2,000 ppm total rare-earth isograd encloses several areas that total 3.22 km 2 in size, and the 200 ppm thorium isograd encloses several areas that total 1.69 km 2 . These deposits could be mined by open pit. The Bear Lodge disseminated deposits have one of the largest resources of both total rare earths and thorium in the United States, and although the grade of both commodities is lower than some other deposits, their large size and relative cheapness of mining make them an important future resource. Vein deposits in the Bear Lodge Mountains include all tabular bodies at least 5 cm thick. Twenty-six veins were noted in this area. These veins are thin and short; the longest vein was traced for only 137 m. Minerals vary greatly in the amount present. Gangue minerals are commonly potassium feldspar, quartz, or cristobalite intermixed with varying amounts of limonite, hematite, and various manganese oxides. Rare earths and thorium occur in the minerals monazite, brockite, and bastnaesite. Thorium content of 35 samples ranged from 0.01 to 1.2 percent, and the total rare-earth content of 21 samples from 0.23 to 9.8 percent. Indicated reserves were calculated to a depth of one-third the exposed length of the vein. Inferred reserves lie in a block surrounding indicated reserves. Indicated reserves of all veins are only 50 t of Th0 2 and 1,360 t of total rare-earth oxides; inferred reserves are 250 t of Th0 2 and 6,810 t of total rare-earth oxides. The Bear Lodge dome, which underlies the greater part of this area, is formed by multiple intrusive bodies of Tertiary age that dome up the surrounding sedimentary rocks. In the southern part of the core, the younger intrusive bodies surround and partly replace a granite of Precambrian age. This granite is approximately 2.6 b.y. old. The sedimentary rocks around the core are (from oldest to youngest): Deadwood Formation of Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician age, Whitewood Limestone of Late Ordovician age, Pahasapa Limestone of Early Mississippian age, Minnelusa Sandstone of Pennsylvanian and Early Permian age, Opeche Formation of Permian age, Minnek

Professional Paper↗

USGS1988

Studies of the early Mesozoic basins of the eastern United States

The papers collected in this volume are extended versions selected from material given as oral and poster presentations at a workshop called "Geology of the Early Mesozoic Basins of Eastern North America,' held at the National Center of the US Geological Survey, May 11-14, 1987. The section titles are: 1) studies related to early Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, 2) studies related to Jurassic igneous rocks, 3) studies related to geophysics, structure, and tectonics, 4) studies related to mineral resources, and 5) fieldtrip guides to the Culpeper basin, Virginia. -from Editors

Bulletin↗

USGS2006

Metallogeny of the Great Basin: Crustal evolution, fluid flow, and ore deposits

The Great Basin physiographic province in the Western United States contains a diverse assortment of world-class ore deposits. It currently (2006) is the world’s second leading producer of gold, contains large silver and base metal (Cu, Zn, Pb, Mo, W) deposits, a variety of other important metallic (Fe, Ni, Be, REE’s, Hg, PGE) and industrial mineral (diatomite, barite, perlite, kaolinite, gallium) resources, as well as petroleum and geothermal energy resources. Ore deposits are most numerous and largest in size in linear mineral belts with complex geology. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are in the final year of a research project initiated in the fall of 2001 to increase understanding of relations between crustal evolution, fluid flow, and ore deposits in the Great Basin. Because of its substantial past and current mineral production, this region has been the focus of numerous investigations over the past century and is the site of ongoing research by industry, academia, and state agencies. A variety of geoinformatic tools was used to organize, reinterpret, and display, in space and time, the large amounts of geologic, geophysical, geochemical, and hydrologic information deemed pertinent to this problem. This information, in combination with concentrated research on (1) critical aspects of the geologic history, (2) an area in northern Nevada that encompasses the major mineral belts, and (3) important mining districts and deposits, is producing new insights about the interplay between key tectonic events, hydrothermal fluid flow, and ore genesis in mineral belts. The results suggest that the Archean to Holocene history of the Great Basin was punctuated by several tectonic events that caused fluids of different origins (sea water, basinal brine, meteoric water, metamorphic water, magmatic water) to move through the crust. Basement faults reactivated during these events localized deformation, sedimentation, magmatism, and hydrothermal fluid flow in overlying rocks to form mineral belts that contain ore deposits of different types and ages that are locally superimposed (demonstrating inheritance). Fluid flow in these systems also was influenced by the distribution of permeable lithologies and paleotopographic highs and lows. Hydrothermal fluids evolved from their initial chemistries towards compositions that reflect the ƒ O 2 and ƒ S 2 buffering capacity of, and the ligands and metals present in, the rocks (±older mineralization) through which they moved. In northern Nevada, where gold deposits are relatively common, carbonaceous, pyritic strata buffered fluids of diverse origins to H 2 S-rich compositions so they could transport gold repeatedly over Paleozoic-Cenozoic time (convergent evolution). Ore formed where metal-laden fluids encountered effective physicochemical traps. Maps of Neogene basin fill and erosion surfaces identify areas where preexisting ore deposits have been progressively exposed or concealed. Comparisons with analogous terrains and deposit types in other parts of the world provide global context. The initial findings and some of the databases, geologic maps, sections, reconstructions, hydrogeologic models, topical syntheses, regional overviews, short courses, field guides, and deposit comparisons produced by project staff and associated managers, contractors, and collaborators have been presented in numerous abstracts, symposia, USGS publications, and professional journals over the last 5 years (see the extensive bibliography). Notable among these was the 2005 Geological Society of Nevada symposium in Reno, Nevada, and the 2005 Geological Society of America annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, where project results were presented to audiences from around the nation and world. The final results of the project will be submitted for publication in 2007 to appropriate USGS and professional journals. A special issue of GEOSPHERE, scheduled for publication in 2007, will be devoted to the results of this project and related work. This special issue will reach an international audience and be available worldwide on the internet. Much of the research for this project has concentrated on areas that will receive the focused attention of the mining industry in the future. As such, the data and interpretations generated by this project have direct use for land-use managers in Federal, State, and local agencies. Improved hydrogeologic models developed by this project will considerably enhance ongoing and future water resource investigations in the region. The increased understanding of when, where, and how hydrothermal systems produce significant economic deposits has direct uses for mineral exploration and for future USGS mineral resource assessments in the Great Basin and other parts of the world.

Great Basin↗

USGS1950

Chemical composition of Texas surface waters, 1949

This report is the fifth the a series of publications by the Texas Board of Water Engineers giving chemical analyses of the surface waters in the State of Texas. The samples for which data are given were collected between October 1, 1948 and September 30, 1949. During the water year 25 daily sampling stations were maintained by the Geological Survey. Sampled were collected less frequently during the year at many other points. Quality of water records for previous years can be found in the following reports: "Chemical Composition of Texas Surface Waters, 1938-1945," by W. W. Hastings, and J. H. Rowley; "Chemical Composition of Texas Surface Waters, 1946," by W. W. Hastings and B. Irelan; "Chemical Composition of Texas Surface Waters, 1947," by B. Irelan and J. R. Avrett; "Chemical Composition of Texas Surface Waters, 1948," by B. Irelan, D. E. Weaver, and J. R. Avrett. These reports may be obtained from the Texas Board of Water Engineers and Geological Survey at Austin, Texas. Samples for chemical analysis were collected daily at or near points on streams where gaging stations are maintained for measurement of discharge. Most of the analyses were made of 10-day composites of daily samples collected for a year at each sampling point. Three composite samples were usually prepared each month by mixing together equal quantities of daily samples collected for the 1st to the 10th, from the 11th to the 20th, and during the remainder of the month. Monthly composites were made at a few stations where variation in daily conductance was small. For some streams that are subject to sudden large changes in chemical composition, composite samples were made for shorter periods on the basis of the concentration of dissolved solids as indicated by measurement of specific conductance of the daily samples. The mean discharge for the composite period is reported in second-feet. Specific conductance values are expressed as "micromhos, K x 10 at 25° C." Silica, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, sulfate, chloride, and nitrate are reported in parts per million. The quantity of dissolved solids is given in tons per acre-foot, tons per day (if discharge records are available), and parts per million. The total and non-carbonate hardness are reported as parts per million calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). For those analyses where sodium and potassium are reported separately, "recent sodium" will include the equivalent quantity of sodium only. In analyses where sodium and potassium were calculated and reported as a combined value, the "percent sodium" will include the equivalent quantity of sodium and potassium. Weighted average analyses are given for most daily sampling stations. The weighted average analysis represent approximately the composition of water that would be found in a reservoir containing all the water passing a given station during the year after through mixing in the reservoir. Samples were analyzed according to method regularly used by the Geological Survey. These methods are essentially the same or are modifications of methods described in recognized authoritative publications for mineral analysis of water samples. These quality of water records have been collected as part of the cooperative investigations of the water resources of Texas conducted by the Geological Survey and the Texas Board of Water Engineers. Much of the work would have been impossible without the support of the following Federal State, and local agencies The United States Bureau of Reclamation, U. S. Corps of Engineers, Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District, Lower Colorado River Authority, Red Bluff Water Power Control District, City of Amarillo, City of Abilene, and City of Forth Worth. The investigations were under the firection of Burdge Irelan, District Chemist, Austin, Texas. Analyses of water samples were made by Clara J. Carter, Lee J. Freeman, Homer D. Smith, Dorothy M. Suttle, DeForrest E. Weaver, and Clarence T. Welborn. Calculations of weighted averages were made by James R. Avrett, Burdge Irelan, Dorothy M. Suttle, and DeForrest E. Weaver.

Texas↗

USGS1979

A proposed U.S. resource classification system

Energy is a worldwide problem calling for worldwide communication to resolve the many supply and distribution problems. Essential to a communication problem is a definition and comparability of elements being communicated. The U.S. Geological Survey, with the cooperation of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Department of Energy, has devised a classification system for all mineral resources, the principles of which we believe offer the possibility of world communication. At this time several other systems, extant or under development (Potential Gas Committee of the U.S., United Nations Resource Committee, and the American Society of Testing and Materials), are internally consistent and provide easy communication linkage. The system in use by the uranium community in the United States, however, ties resource quantities to Forward-Cost dollar values rendering them inconsistent with other classifications and not therefore comparable. The paper will then develop the rationale for the new USGS resource classification and note its benefits relative to a Forward-Cost classification and its relationship specifically to other extant classifications.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2010

Saline groundwater resources of the conterminous United States

Saline water is arbitrarily defined as water containing more than 1000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids. Saline ground water is known to underlie about two‐thirds of the 48 states. Locally, aquifers yield saline ground water in profuse quantities, some of which is used by industry, particularly for cooling. Generally, however, saline water has been considered a nuisance. In this report it is dealt with as a resource, especially for the future. Forty chemical types of mineralized ground water were recognized, but sodium chloride dominates the occurrences and is almost the only type found where concentrations exceed about 20,000 mg/l. The occurrence and hydrologic properties of saline water aquifers deserve much more study than they have had. Copyright 1970 by the American Geophysical Union.

Water Resources Research↗

USGS2023

Critical minerals in subduction-related magmatic-hydrothermal systems of the United States

During the World War and Cold War eras (1910s–1990s), domestic consumption of numerous mineral commodities relied increasingly on imported supplies. Consumption reliance has since expanded to include 50 “critical minerals” (elements and mineral commodities) that are mostly to entirely imported and subject to curtailment by suppliers or supply chain disruption. New domestic supplies of critical minerals are being pursued by mining companies and by several federal departments and agencies. Information on domestic deposits and resources of critical minerals is being compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program, which has organized investigations by mineral system, deposit type, and commodity. Production, reserves, resources, and inventories of 21 critical minerals in domestic magmatic-hydrothermal deposits related to subduction-generated magmatism, and in tailings, slag, slimes, and electrolyte from copper concentrators, smelters, and refineries that processed some deposits, are largely restricted to Western States and Alaska. The critical mineral commodities Al, Sb, As, Bi, Co, fluorite, Ga, Ge, In, Mn, Ni, Nb, Pd, Pt, potash, Re, Ta, Te, Sn, W, and V are variably concentrated in porphyry/skarn copper-(molybdenum), skarn-replacement-vein (S-R-V) tungsten, polymetallic sulfide S-R-V intermediate sulfidation (IS), high-sulfidation gold-silver, low-sulfidation gold-silver, and lithocap alunite deposit types. These deposit types occur in porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold, alkalic porphyry, porphyry tin (granite related), and reduced intrusion-related mineral systems. Production, reserves, and resources of Co, Ni, Nb, Pd, Pt, Ta, Sn, and V in subduction-related deposits in Western States are insignificant to small, mostly equivalent to months to a few years of recent annual domestic consumption (2016–2020). Significant inventories, equivalent to 2 or more years of consumption of aluminum, antimony, potash, and tungsten in unmined S-R-V tungsten, polymetallic sulfide S-R-V-IS, and lithocap alunite deposits vary from approximately 2 to 8 years. Several decades of consumption of arsenic, bismuth, fluorite, gallium, germanium, and indium exist in some polymetallic sulfide S-R-V-IS and lithocap alunite deposit types. Based on concentrations of critical minerals in reserves, resources, drill holes, and deposit domains (ore types), and in captive refinery records, the largest domestic inventories of Sb, As, Bi, Re, and Te, and possibly Ga, Ge, In, Sn, and W, are in porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) deposits in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, and in interim products of processing porphyry Cu-Mo deposit ores for recovery of copper and molybdenum. Concentrations of critical minerals in archival specimens and sample collections, although somewhat biased by collection and conservation decisions and categorization, are broadly proportionate to those in reserves, resources, and drill holes. These concentrations imply significant inventories of some critical minerals in deposits for which production, resources, and refinery records are unavailable or incomplete. Because of the large masses of ores mined and processed annually (hundreds of millions of metric tons) and in reserves and resources (hundreds of millions of metric tons to billions of metric tons), calculated inventories of critical minerals in porphyry Cu-Mo deposits are equivalent to decades and centuries of recent consumption. However, these inventories should not be considered consumable supplies without reserve definition and development of economically viable mining plans and recovery techniques. An expeditious strategy for elimination or reduction of import reliance is recovery, and improved recovery efficiency, of Sb, As, Bi, Re, and Te, and possibly Ga, Ge, In, Ni, Sn, Ti, and W; during concentration and refining of copper and molybdenum minerals in ores of operating porphyry Cu-Mo mines; and in unmined porphyry Cu-Mo resources. These chalcophile, siderophile, and lithophile critical minerals, often undetectable in ore, are concentrated (hundreds of parts per million to percents) in slimes and electrolyte during copper electrorefining or could be recovered, in part, during sulfide concentration and smelting. Other than rhenium (recovered during molybdenum refining) and tellurium, all have been routinely discarded. Subsidization (for example, commodity price guarantees, tax credits, recovery technology development), political initiative, and (or) sustained market favorability could support new production of critical mineral commodities from subduction-related magmatic-hydrothermal deposits in Western States. In addition, insufficient domestic refining capacity could relegate the large inventories of critical minerals in porphyry Cu-Mo reserves and resources (for example, Pebble, Alaska; Resolution and Copper World [Rosemont], Arizona) to exportation in concentrates and importation insecurity, fortifying their present status.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2026

Lithium brine potential of North Dakota: Results from the 2025 sampling program

Lithium (Li), classified as a critical mineral and key in energy storage applications because of its high energy density, faces unprecedented demand. This has driven interest in unconventional sources of Li, especially brines from sedimentary basins. Accordingly, the spatial distribution of basinal brinehosted Li resources across North America is becoming better defined, including the Williston Basin underlying Saskatchewan, Canada. This has led to growing investment and exploration by industry throughout the 2020s; however, despite this interest, the Li potential of basinal brines of the Williston Basin in North Dakota remain underexplored. This work presents the results from the 2025 joint brine sampling campaign between the North Dakota Geological Survey, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and The University of Texas at Austin. Twenty-seven fluid samples were collected from producing oil and water source wells from eight stratigraphic intervals across western North Dakota and analyzed for major cation and anion concentrations. Similar to southeastern Saskatchewan, the highest Li concentrations were identified in the Devonian Duperow Formation, with concentrations up to 179 mg/L being observed in a well commingled between the Duperow and Red River Formations. Some samples from the overlying Birdbear Formation exceeded 75 mg/L, whereas Li concentrations were lower in the Madison Group (33-44 mg/L) and the Three Forks (50 mg/L), Dawson Bay (43 mg/L), Winnipegosis (23 mg/L), and Red River (40.0 mg/L) Formations. This work indicates Li resource potential exists across the Williston Basin and advances our understanding of the Li distribution in basinal brines which could provide a new domestic source of this critical mineral.

North Dakota↗

USGS2025

Scoping decision-maker needs and science availability to support regional natural capital accounting in the U.S. Colorado River Basin

Natural capital accounting has the potential to yield important policy insights at multiple scales, but there remains a disconnect between regional-scale natural capital accounts and their use for informing policy. In this paper, we propose a roadmap that could lead to the creation of policy-relevant regional accounts, with steps split across an initial scoping phase and a subsequent development phase. We demonstrate the scoping steps in action with an application to the Colorado River Basin (“Basin”), a large watershed in the southwestern United States (U.S.) that has faced aridification and substantial high-profile tradeoffs around the use of its water and other natural resources. Drawing on prior U.S. Geological Survey science co-production efforts, we conducted a series of eight discussion sessions with 41 scientists and science representatives whose work is relevant to Basin water, riparian and riverine ecosystems, upland ecosystems and energy and minerals. We summarise participants' thoughts on key topics and economic linkages, their insights and questions of interest and their recommendations on existing scientific data sources and gaps. We evaluate the suitability of the available data for construction of System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) Central Framework and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting accounts, including those for land, water, forests, energy and minerals and ecosystems (covering extent, condition and ecosystem services). We present a series of lessons learned during the scoping phase, as well as lessons that could be relevant for future practitioners engaging in the development phase. The information can help guide the development of timely and relevant regional-scale environmental-economic accounts in the U.S. and beyond.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,↗