Images

Cathedral Spires in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Stratigraphic studies of Quaternary alluvium provides resource data to the U.S. aggregate industry.

Potash ore is mined at a depth of about 1500 m through a solution mining process. Examination of the world's largest potash producing basin was part of a global assessment of undiscovered.

Gordon Haxel (USGS, Flagstaff) explains the Jurassic geology of the Baboquivari Mountains, Arizona. Kitt Peak, Arizona, November 2009. Bob Powell (USGS, Tucson) holds the map.

Mine Blast at Silver Bell Mine, Arizona.

Long-distance shot of headframe in Miami-Globe mining district.

Native copper. The USGS studies processes that form copper deposits and reports global production and consumption.

Taking notes on a silicified ridge at Goldfield, Nevada. Silicified ridges are typically associated with epithermal gold deposits.

Kaolinite hill in Cuprite, Nevada is one the premier calibration sites for imaging spectrometers used in mineral mapping.

Deposit of iron-cemented stream gravel (ferricrete) with embedded wood fragments that can be age dated using radiocarbon to determine the age of the ferricrete deposit. Knowing the age of the ferricretes helps scientists determine if the associated enrichment of metals in streams occurred before or after mining in the watershed started.

Mineral Creek watershed in southwestern Colorado has natural and mining-related sources of contamination. In the background of this photo is a large naturally occurring seep that discharges acidic, metal-rich water to a tributary of Mineral Creek.

Production level in the Ray porphyry copper mine, AZ.

Overlook of Ray porphyry copper mine.

New AGS building after USAID renovation features cutting edge scientific equipment.

Photo captures the Rio Grande, volcanic San Luis Hills, and Blanca Peak massif in the San Luis Basin, part of the Rio Grande rift.  The basin - currently being studied by the USGS - is of interest for groundwater, petroleum, and mineral resources. 

These rare-earth oxides are used as tracers to determine which parts of a watershed are eroding. Clockwise from top center: praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium. Image Number D1115-1. Photo by Peggy Greb, USDA-ARS.

An open-pit mine for volcanic-hosted copper deposits from the Bolnisi District of the Republic of Georgia.

An open-pit mine for volcanic-hosted copper deposits from the Bolnisi District of the Republic of Georgia. A controlled blast as part of the mining process can be seen.

Colorful mountains of Sar-e-Pul hint of copper (green) and iron (red).

USGS scientist Bernard Hubbard conducting spectral measurements of soils and cover crops to ground truth satellite imagery being used to map soil erosion and runoff potential into the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Scenic Panjsher Valley hosts emerald deposits