USGS Science⌕ Search

SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Mineral Economics”

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 559 records · Page 31Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Fingerprinting magmatic REE deposit sources with zircon petrochronology

Carbonatites and associated alkaline silicate rocks are of considerable economic interest due to their enrichments in rare earth elements. The petrogenesis and source(s) of these complexes, however, are poorly understood. Models propose either mantle plume-derived carbon-rich melts or a mantle source enriched by subduction-related metasomatism. We use zircon trace elements to fingerprint carbonatite-alkaline complex sources, focusing on the economically significant 1.4 Ga Mountain Pass intrusive suite (MPIS). Autocrystic zircon from MPIS alkaline silicate rocks are enriched in Th and U relative to Nb suggesting a subduction influenced, oxidized source region. Lower Sc/Yb, higher Ti concentrations, and the absence of Eu anomalies in autocrystic zircon suggest derivation from a less hydrous, hotter, and deeper mantle source relative to arc-related 1.8–1.6 Ga inherited zircon. These data are best explained by syn- to post-collisional Mesoproterozoic reactivation of a subduction-metasomatized mantle source. The source and tectonic setting of the MPIS contrasts with Mesoproterozoic Gifford Creek and Bayan Obo carbonatites which exhibit plume-like compositions and are associated with rifts, suggesting different sources and tectonic settings for these economically significant deposits. We demonstrate that zircon petrochronology is a robust method for distinguishing carbonatite sources and can inform more targeted exploration strategies for critical mineral resources.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2004

Hydrothermal alteration, ore fluid characteristics, and gold depositional processes along a trondhjemite-komatiite contact at Tarmoola, Western Australia

Tarmoola is a structurally controlled Archean orogenic gold deposit hosted in greenschist facies metamorphosed komatiite and trondhjemite in the Leonora district of the Eastern Goldfields province, Yilgarn craton. High-grade (>1 g/t Au) orebodies are located in komatiite wall rock adjacent to the eastern and northeastern margins of the asymmetrical, north-south-striking, Tarmoola trondhjemite intrusion. Gold-bearing veins post-date trondhjemite emplacement (ca. 2700 Ma), quartz diorite dikes (ca. 2667 Ma), and regional greenschist facies metamorphism. Textures and crosscutting relationships in gold-bearing veins indicate two stages of hydrothermal fluid infiltration associated with a single gold-related hydrothermal event: a volumetrically dominant, but gold-poor, stage I fluid and a gold-rich stage II fluid. Gold-bearing veins contain stage I milky quartz and pyrite that are overprinted by stage II quartz-ankerite-muscovite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite-galena-gold-tellurides ?? albite ?? chlorite ?? fuchsite ?? epidote ?? scheelite. Stage I hydrothermal alteration assemblages are different in trondhjemite and komatiite due to contrasting reactions between a common ore fluid and disparate wall-rock chemistry. Stage II fluid-wall rock interaction was minor compared to stage I and is indicated by the overprinting of stage I mineral assemblages by stage II microveins. Wall-rock alteration proximal to veins in trondhjemite is characterized by replacement of igneous plagioclase, amphibole, biotite, and metamorphic chlorite by hydrothermal quartz, muscovite, ankerite, calcite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, tellurides, and gold, whereas in proximal alteration in komatiite, metamorphic chlorite and talc are replaced by ankerite, quartz, muscovite, albite, chlorite, fuchsite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, tellurides, and gold. The stage II fluid was enriched in H2O, CO2, Si, Ca, K, Na, S, Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, W, Bi, As, Mo, Zn, and Te. Based on fluid inclusion studies and stage II mineral equilibria, gold deposited from a homogeneous, neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 5.1-5.5), reduced, low-salinity (<5.5 wt % NaCl equiv) fluid that had a bulk composition of 78 mole percent H2O and 21 mole percent CO2, and trace amounts of CH4, C2H6, H2, Ar, H2S, and He. Gold deposition occurred at 300?? ?? 50??C and 0.5 to 3.0 kbars. Assuming lithostatic fluid pressures, gold precipitated at a 2- to 10-km depth. Stage II gray quartz ??18Ofluid values range from 5.9 to 7.5 per mil, whereas ??Dfluid values calculated from the dehydration of muscovite grains and measured directly from bulk fluid inclusion analyses of stage II gray quartz have ranges of -9 to -35 and -27 to -28 per mil, respectively. Hydrothermal ore fluids were transported from greater crustal depths to the site of gold deposition during the district-scale D3 event by shallowly W dipping, reverse brittle-ductile shear zones in supracrustal rock and along the steeply east dipping trondhjemite contact. Associated subhorizontal east-west shortening caused the reactivation of the eastern trondhjemite margin and subparallel foliation, which facilitated the transport of hydrothermal fluids and the generation of gold-bearing veins and hydrothermal alteration zones in komatiite. East-west-striking fractures in trondhjemite aided the lateral migration of ore fluids away from trondhjemite margins and the formation of east-west-striking gold-bearing veins and broad alteration zones. Gold was most likely transported in the stage II fluid as bisulfide complexes. The sulfidation of trondhjemite and komatiite wall rock by the stage II fluid caused the destabilization of An bisulfide complexes and gold deposition. Potassium, Ca, and CO2 metasomatism of komatiite wall rock may have enhanced gold deposition via the acidification of the stage II fluid. The physicochemical characteristics of the Tarmoola ore fluid and relative timing of gold mineralization are consistent with the Yilgarn-wide,

Economic Geology↗
USGS2014

Concealed basalt-matrix diatremes with Cu-Au-Ag-(Mo)-mineralized xenoliths, Santa Cruz Porphyry Cu-(Mo) System, Pinal County, Arizona

The Santa Cruz porphyry Cu-(Mo) system near Casa Grande, Arizona, includes the Sacaton mine deposits and at least five other concealed, mineralized fault blocks with an estimated minimum resource of 1.5 Gt @ 0.6% Cu. The Late Cretaceous-Paleocene system has been dismembered and rotated by Tertiary extension, partially eroded, and covered by Tertiary-Quaternary basin-fill deposits. The mine and mineralized fault blocks, which form an 11 km (~7 miles) by 1.6 km (~1 mile) NE-SW–trending alignment, represent either pieces of one large deposit, several deposits, or pieces of several deposits. The southwestern part of the known system is penetrated by three or more diatremes that consist of heterolithic breccia pipes with basalt and clastic matrices, and subannular tuff ring and maar-fill sedimentary deposits associated with vents. The tephra and maar-fill deposits, which are covered by ~485 to 910 m (~1,600–3,000 ft) of basin fill, lie on a mid-Tertiary erosion surface of Middle Proterozoic granite and Late Cretaceous porphyry, which compose most xenoliths in pipes and are the host rocks of the system. Some igneous xenoliths in the pipes contain bornite-chalcopyrite-covellite assemblages with hypogene grades >1 wt % Cu, 0.01 ounces per ton (oz/t) Au, 0.5 oz/t Ag, and small amounts of Mo (<0.01 wt %). These xenoliths were derived from mineralized rocks that have not been encountered in drill holes, and attest to additional, possibly higher-grade deposits within or subjacent to the known system. The geometry, stratigraphy, and temporal relationships of pipes and tephras, interpreted from drill hole spacing and intercepts, multigenerational breccias and matrices, reequilibrated and partially decomposed sulfide-oxide mineral assemblages, melted xenoliths, and breccia matrix compositions show that the diatremes formed in repeated stages. Initial pulses of basalt magma fractured granite, porphyry, and other crustal rocks during intrusion, transported multi-sized fragments of these rocks upward, and partially melted small fragments. Rapid decompression of magma induced catastrophic devolatilization that ruptured overlying rocks to the surface, and generated fragment-volatile suspensions that abraded conduits into near-vertical cylindrical structures. Fragments entrained in suspensions were milled and sorted, and ejected as basal surge, pyroclastic deposits, and airfall tephra that built tuff rings around vents and filled vent depressions. Comminuted m- to mm-sized fragments of wall rocks in magma and suspensions that remained in conduits solidified as heterolithic breccias. Subsequent pulses of basalt magma ascended through the same conduits, brecciated older heterolithic breccias, devolatilized, and quenched, leaving two or more generations of nested and mingled heterolithic breccias and internal zones of fluidized fragments. Tephra and maar-fill deposits from later eruptions are composed of more hydrous and oxidized minerals than earlier tephras, reflecting a higher proportion of water in transport fluid which, based on fluid inclusion populations in mineralized xenoliths, was saline water and CO 2 . The large vertical extent (~600 m; ~2,000 ft) of basalt matrix in pipes, near-paleosurface matrix vesiculation, and plastically deformed basalt lapilli indicates that diatreme eruptions were predominantly phreatic. Diatreme xenoliths represent crustal stratigraphy and, as in the Santa Cruz system, provide evidence of concealed mineral resources that can guide exploration drilling through cover. Vectors to the source of bornite-dominant xenoliths containing >1% Cu and significant Au and Ag could be determined by refinement of breccia pipe geometries, by reassembly of mineralized fault blocks using modal, chemical, and temporal characteristics of hydrothermal mineral assemblages and fluid inclusions, and by paleodrainage analysis.

Arizona↗
USGS1957

Reflecting curved-crystal X-ray spectrograph; a device for the analysis of small mineral samples

A curved-crystal reflecting spectrometer of the type described by Birks and Brooks of the Naval Research Laboratories, but adapted for use in mineralogical studies, has been built in the Geological Survey. It has been successfully applied to the analysis of tiny crystals, zones in minerals, and individual grains in mixed-mineral specimens such as thin or polished sections, on grains or areas about 0.5 mm in diameter, X-ray diffraction spindles, and small samples of powder weighing a fraction of a milligram have also been analyzed without any loss or alteration of the sample. Of great value in thin- and polished-section work is the fact that this technique can be used to analyze selected areas without mutilating the specimen by digging out grains.A modification of the curved-crystal spectrometer has made it possible to traverse a standard polished section in synchronization with a recorder, automatically plotting the distribution of various elements along a selected line. This method was applied, for example, to a polished section containing a central core of pyrite intergrown with and surrounded by a marcasite-like mineral. Chemical analysis of a concentrate of these two minerals gave selenium, cobalt, and iron as major constituents. A clear relationship between the cobalt, selenium, and iron was established by the X-ray method, identifying the second mineral as an intermediate member of the FeSe 2 -CoSe 2 series.

Economic Geology↗
USGS2022

Fluids and melts at the magmatic-hydrothermal transition, recorded by unidirectional solidification textures at Saginaw Hill, Arizona, USA

Fluid exsolution and melt evolution at the magmatic-hydrothermal transition are critical processes driving the metal enrichment of porphyry systems. Coeval fluid and melt inclusion assemblages in unidirectional solidification textures (USTs) at Saginaw Hill—a small, porphyry Cu system in southwestern Arizona—record a dynamic and repetitious process of fluid accumulation and release. The cores of quartz crystals throughout the UST bands host coeval silicate melt and brine inclusions but lack vapor-rich inclusions. This could indicate preferential expulsion of vapor and trapping of high-density brine during episodes of fracturing or the direct exsolution of single-phase high-salinity brine from the silicate melt. In contrast, the rims of UST quartz host abundant coeval brine and vapor inclusions, consistent with liquid-vapor immiscibility at lower pressures compared to the corresponding quartz cores. This transition from dominantly coeval silicate melt inclusions and brine in phenocryst cores to coeval brine and vapor in the rims suggests that the Saginaw Hill system underwent cyclic processes of fluid exsolution, accumulation, overpressure, and decompression at relatively stable temperatures (consistently ~650°C) during UST formation. Melt inclusion data indicate that the melt at this stage was highly fractionated and tended toward muscovite saturation. Metal concentrations in the brine were comparable to or higher than those in fluids reported in world-class porphyry Cu systems and were likely the result of both igneous fractionation and the high chloride content of the exsolved fluids. While limited in scale, Saginaw Hill provides evidence for processes that are predicted to occur at the magmatic-hydrothermal transition during the formation of large, well-mineralized porphyry systems.

Arizona↗
USGS2025

Aeromagnetic and magnetotelluric imaging of west-central Idaho and the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district: A regional to district perspective

Aeromagnetic and magnetotelluric (MT) data are used to better understand the geology and mineral resources near the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district in central Idaho. The reduced-to-pole (RTP) transformation of regional-scale aeromagnetic data shows that allochthonous island-arc rocks west of the Salmon River suture are significantly more magnetic than the Laurentian continental rocks east of the suture and that the granitoids of the Idaho batholith have moderate to low magnetization in both early, metaluminous, and late, peraluminous phases. Application of tilt derivative to aeromagnetic data highlights major crustal-scale structures. The 5-km upward continued magnetic data indicate island-arc rocks have deep magnetic sources. The 110-km-long MT profile images resistivity structure to depths around 30 km. At shallow depths, resistivity corresponds to mapped geologic units, with moderate resistivities underlying volcanic and roof-pendant metasedimentary rocks and moderate to high resistivities occurring beneath the Idaho batholith. Crustal-scale moderate resistivities beneath the suture image the results of tectonomagmatic processes that accompanied suturing and translating allochthonous terranes. Low resistivity values beneath and fringing the batholith are derived from metasedimentary rocks that may have served as a melt source and reductant during melt generation and provided metals during later ore formation. In the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district, a high-resolution aeromagnetic compilation is shown to correlate with mapped lithologies and mineral deposit-related structures. The RTP transform distinguishes magnetic and nonmagnetic granitoid phases of the Idaho batholith. The tilt derivative highlights metasedimentary rocks, some of which are favorable ore hosts. The Meadow Creek fault hosts the Stibnite and Hangar Flats deposits and is imaged as a magnetic low due to hydrothermal alteration. Reconstructions of magnetic anomaly offsets and orebodies indicate around 3 km of post-95 Ma dextral separation, with some or all of the offset inferred to postdate the main Au mineralization episode (61–66 Ma).

Idaho↗
USGS1974

Recommendations for the study and appraisal of oil-shale deposits in Jordan

A geologic-geochemical evaluation conducted October 5-24, 1968, both in the field area and in the laboratories has shown the Upper Cretaceous oil shale in the El Lajjun area of central Jordan to be one of Jordan's major natural mineral resources. Continued but slightly modified investigations are strongly recommended to determine the exact volume and quality of this oil shale. Further, a study to determine the most efficient processes of extraction of the oil and possible co-products should be initiated. The economic potential of the oil shale is excellent, but the actual exploitation of this rock will depend on national economic and political factors that cannot be interpreted at this time. From a realistic point of view, regardless of these factors which inevitably change with time, systematic investigations and planning for construction of extraction plants for domestic production of fuel and/or other products from the oil shale should be completed at the earliest possible date, to assure rapid utilization of this mineral resource when necessary.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1998

Offshore industrial mineral studies using a marine induced-polarization streamer system

More than 3 million square miles (nearly 8 million square kilometers) of territory that belongs to the United States is relatively unknown. This area is the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends from 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) off the coast of the United States and its affiliated islands out to 200 nautical miles (370 km) (fig. 1). Since President Reagan claimed U.S. sovereign rights over the EEZ by proclamation on 10 March 1983, much effort has gone into studying it, but much remains to be learned.

Information Handout↗
USGS2005

Bottled water, spas, and early years of water chemistry

Although hot springs have been used and enjoyed for thousands of years, it was not until the late 1700s that they changed the course of world civilization by being the motivation for development of the science of chemistry. The pioneers of chemistry such as Priestley, Cavendish, Lavoisier, and Henry were working to identify and generate gases, in part, to determine their role in carbonated beverages. In the 18th century, spas in America were developed to follow the traditional activities of popular European spas. However, they were to become a dominant political and economic force in American history on three major points: (1) By far the most important was to provide a place for the leaders of individual colonies to meet and discuss the need for separation from England and the necessity for the Revolutionary War; (2) the westward expansion of the United States was facilitated by the presence of hot springs in many locations that provided the economic justification for railroads and settlement; and (3) the desire for the preservation of hot springs led to the establishment of the National Park Service. Although mineral springs have maintained their therapeutic credibility in many parts of the world, they have not done so in the United States. We suggest that the American decline was prompted by: (1) the establishment of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1893; (2) enactment of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1907; and (3) the remarkable achievement of providing safe water supplies for American cities by the end of the 1920s. The current expanding market for bottled water is based in part on bottled water being an alternative beverage Ito alcohol and sweetened drinks and the inconsistent palatability and perceived health hazards of some tap waters.

Groundwater↗
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↗
USGS1962

Diffusion features of uranium-vanadium deposits in Montezuma Canyon, Utah

Uranium-vanadium deposits in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation in Montezuma Canyon , San Juan County, Utah , exhibit zoning that is interpreted as a result of metal transport by diffusion . The concentric zones consist of a brown nonmineralized core, an olive-gray mineralized shell, and a gray nonmineralized outer zone. The brown zone is iron-stained, porous sandstone commonly containing abundant carbonaceous material. The curved mineralized layer completely encloses the brown zone, and is composed of oxidized uranium-vanadium minerals that impregnate sandstone. The gray zone is light-gray sandstone tightly cemented with calcite and commonly freckled with limonitic specks.Formation of the deposits most likely took place during Late Cretaceous or early Tertiary time when the ore-bearing sandstones were deeply buried and saturated with connate waters. The concentration of organic material in the brown zone suggests that this zone was once saturated with a reducing solution containing soluble organic compounds like alcohols and aldehydes derived from the organic material. The gray zone, on the other hand, was probably saturated with an oxidizing solution containing uranium and vanadium. Where these two solutions were in contact, oxidation-reduction reactions took place that caused the precipitation of low-valent uranium and vanadium minerals.The ellipsoidal shape of the ore layer and the lack of any exit or entrance for flowing solutions indicates that the dissolved metals moved through the gray zone by diffusion and were precipitated at the periphery of the reducing zone. Recent weathering and oxidation have altered the primary low-valent minerals to high-valent forms without noticeable leaching of the ore metals.

Utah↗
USGS1973

Geochemical studies in the Park City district; I, ore fluids in the Mayflower mine

Ore bodies in the Mayflower mine, Park City district, Utah, are localized along a normal fault zone which cuts Mississippian sedimentary and Tertiary intrusive rocks. Fissure filling and replacement Pb-Zn-Cu-Ag-Au mineralization occurs in both sedimentary and intrusive host rocks over a known vertical distance of 3,000 feet. The paragenesis of three major recognized veins in the mine is nearly the same, consisting of early quartz, anhydrite, hematite, and pyrite + or - chalcopyrite, followed by sphalerite and galena, grading into pyrite + chalcopyrite + hematite, in turn followed by quartz + carbonate and minor anhydrite, followed by sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Deep, early veins outside of the Mayflower ore zone are characterized by quartz, K-feldspar, biotite, pyrite, and anhydrite, and some also contain magnetite, amphibole or chalcopyrite; these veins contain halite-bearing and gas-rich inclusions which are not known from the ore zone. The deep, early fluids had 34 to 44% salinity, homogenization temperatures of 315 degrees to 430 degrees C, and at times were boiling. Fluid inclusions in samples from the three ore-bearing veins, which contain only simple two-phase inclusions with consistent phase proportions, indicate a marked change in the fluids prior to ore deposition. Homogenization temperatures range from 220 degrees to 300 degrees C, and probably require a pressure correction of approximately + 10 degrees C. Freezing tests indicate salinities in the range 0.3 to 11 wt %NaCl equivalent; no CO 2 -bearing phases were detected at reduced temperatures. Near-surface veins, presumably contemporaneous with the Mayflower ore zone, show evidence for boiling and suggest that there was approximately 90 bars pressure at the present Mayflower vein outcrop. The distribution of fluid densities, temperatures, boiling, and key minerals in time and space indicates a dramatic change from very hot dense post-magmatic fluids to cooler, relatively low salinity fluids at the onset of economic basemetal deposition, probably concurrent with normal faulting. The changes in the physical properties of the hydrothermal fluids are believed to reflect the structural and magmatic evolution of the area.

Utah↗
USGS1983

Mineral resource assessment of the Iron River 1° x 2° quadrangle, Michigan and Wisconsin

The Iron River 1? x 2? quadrangle contains identified resources of copper and iron. Copper-rich shale beds in the north part of the quadrangle contain 12.2 billion pounds (5.5 billion kilograms) of copper in well-studied deposits including 9.2 billion pounds (4.2 billion kilograms) that are economically minable by 1980 standards. At least several billion pounds of copper probably exist in other parts of the same shale beds, but not enough data are available to measure the amount. A small amount, about 250 million pounds (113 million kilograms), of native copper is known to remain in one abandoned mine, and additional but unknown amounts remain in other abandoned mines. About 13.25 billion tons (12.02 billion metric tons) of banded iron-formation averaging roughly 30 percent iron are known within 500 feet (152.4 meters) of the surface in the Gogebic, Marquette, and Iron River-Crystal Falls districts. A small percentage of that might someday be minable as taconite, but none is now believed to be economic. Some higher grade iron concentrations exist in the same iron-formations. Such material was the basis of former mining of iron in the region, but a poor market for such ore and depletion of many deposits have led to the decline of iron mining in the quadrangle. Iron mines of the quadrangle were not being worked in 1980. Many parts of the quadrangle contain belts of favorable host rocks for mineral deposits. Although deposits are not known in these belts, undiscovered deposits of copper, zinc, lead, silver, uranium, phosphate, nickel, chromium, platinum, gold, and diamonds could exist.

Michigan, Wisconsin↗
USGS1982

Mineral-resource assessment of the Iron River 1° x 2° quadrangle, Michigan and Wisconsin

The Iron River 1° x 2° quadrangle contains identified resources of copper and iron. Copper-rich shale beds in t1n north part of the quadrangle contain 12.2 billion pounds (5.5 billion kg) of copper in well-studied deposits including 9.2 billion pounds (4.2 billion kg) that are economically mineable by 1980 standards. At least several billion pounds of copper probably exist in other parts of the same shale beds but not enough data are available to measure the amount. A small amount, about 250 million pounds (113 million kg), of native copper is known to remain in one abandoned mine, and additional but unknown amounts remain in other abandoned mines. About 13.25 billion tons (12.02 billion t) of handed iron-formation averaging roughly 30 percent iron are known within 500 feet (152.4 m) of the surface in the Gogebic, Marquette, and Iron River-Crystal Falls districts. Some, probably small, percentage of that might someday be mineable as taconite, but none is now believed to be economic. Some higher grade iron concentrations exist in tin same iron-formations. Such material was the basis of former mining of iron in the region, but a poor market for such ore and depletion of many deposits has lead to the decline of iron mining in the quadrangle. No iron mines of the quadrangle were being worked in 1981. Many parts of the quadrangle contain belts of favorable host rocks for mineral deposits. Although no deposits are known in these belts, undiscovered deposits of copper, zinc, lead, silver, uranium, phosphate, nickel, chromium, platinum, gold, and diamonds could exist.

Michigan, Wisconsin↗