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Results from our Program’s research and minerals information activities are published in USGS publications series as well as in outside journals.  To follow Minerals Information Periodicals, subscribe to the Mineral Periodicals RSS feed.

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Minerals Information Publications

2019 MCS report cover

National Mineral Information Center (NMIC) products focus on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials. These products are organized by mineral commodity, geographic area, or monthly/annual statistical compilation.

NMIC Publications

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Product collections resulting from previous science activities and external research program grant final reports.

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Select the USB image or button below to open a downloadable and printable handout in .pdf format. The handout provides a select listing of publications, data releases, and websites directly related to the MRP funded science priorities. 

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USGS Spectral Library Version 7

We have assembled a library of spectra measured with laboratory, field, and airborne spectrometers. The instruments used cover wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared (0.2 to 200 microns [μm]). Laboratory samples of specific minerals, plants, chemical compounds, and manmade materials were measured. In many cases, samples were purified, so that unique spectral features of a material ca
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, Roger N. Clark, Gregg A. Swayze, K. Eric Livo, Todd M. Hoefen, Neil C. Pearson, Richard A. Wise, William Benzel, Heather A. Lowers, Rhonda L. Driscoll, Anna J. Klein
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver Microbeam Laboratory, Spectroscopy Lab

Global nonfuel mineral exploration trends 2001-2015

The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) is to collect, analyze and disseminate information on the domestic and international supply of and demand for minerals and mineral materials essential to the U.S. economy and national security. Understanding mineral exploration activities and trends assists government policy makers, minerals industry decis
Authors
Nick Karl, David R. Wilburn
By
Mineral Resources Program, National Minerals Information Center

The Evergreen basin and the role of the Silver Creek fault in the San Andreas fault system, San Francisco Bay region, California

The Evergreen basin is a 40-km-long, 8-km-wide Cenozoic sedimentary basin that lies mostly concealed beneath the northeastern margin of the Santa Clara Valley near the south end of San Francisco Bay (California, USA). The basin is bounded on the northeast by the strike-slip Hayward fault and an approximately parallel subsurface fault that is structurally overlain by a set of west-verging reverse-o
Authors
Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Robert Williams, David A. Ponce, Edward A. Mankinen, William J. Stephenson, Victoria E. Langenheim
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Semiautomatic approaches to account for 3-D distortion of the electric field from local, near-surface structures in 3-D resistivity inversions of 3-D regional magnetotelluric data

This report summarizes the results of three-dimensional (3-D) resistivity inversion simulations that were performed to account for local 3-D distortion of the electric field in the presence of 3-D regional structure, without any a priori information on the actual 3-D distribution of the known subsurface geology. The methodology used a 3-D geologic model to create a 3-D resistivity forward (“known”
Authors
Brian D. Rodriguez
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Reconnaissance sedimentology of selected tertiary exposures in the upland region bordering the Yukon Flats basin, east-central Alaska

This report summarizes reconnaissance sedimentologic and stratigraphic observations made during six days of helicopter-supported fieldwork in 2002 on Tertiary sedimentary rocks exposed in the upland region around the flanks of the Yukon Flats basin in east-central Alaska (fig. 1). This project was a cooperative effort between the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and the U
Authors
David L. LePain, Richard G. Stanley
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Geochemistry of host rocks in the Howards Pass district, Yukon-Northwest Territories, Canada: implications for sedimentary environments of Zn-Pb and phosphate mineralization

Detailed lithogeochemical data are reported here on early Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that host the large Howards Pass stratiform Zn-Pb deposits in Yukon-Northwest Territories. Redox-sensitive trace elements (Mo, Re, V, U) and Ce anomalies in members of the Duo Lake Formation record significant environmental changes. During the deposition of lower footwall units (Pyritic siliceous and Calcareous m
Authors
John F. Slack, Hendrik Falck, Karen D. Kelley, Gabriel G. Xue
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Isotopic data for Late Cretaceous intrusions and associated altered and mineralized rocks in the Big Belt Mountains, Montana

The quartz monzodiorite of Mount Edith and the concentrically zoned intrusive suite of Boulder Baldy constitute the principal Late Cretaceous igneous intrusions hosted by Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Newland Formation in the Big Belt Mountains, Montana. These calc-alkaline plutonic masses are manifestations of subduction-related magmatism that prevailed along the western edge of North
Authors
Edward A. du Bray, Daniel M. Unruh, Albert H. Hofstra
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Mineral potential mapping in an accreted island-arc setting using aeromagnetic data: An example from southwest Alaska

The distribution of volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS), porphyry-epithermal, Alaska-type ultramafic-mafic complexes, intrusion-related Au, and granitoid Sn-W ore deposits in southwest Alaska supports current metallogenic models linking the formation of these deposit types to the emplacement of different suites of igneous rocks during the evolution of this convergent plate margin. Regional-scale ae
Authors
Eric Anderson, Thomas Monecke, Murray W. Hitzman, Wendy Zhou, Paul A. Bedrosian
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Pyrogenic carbon distribution in mineral topsoils of the northeastern United States

Due to its slow turnover rates in soil, pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is considered an important C pool and relevant to climate change processes. Therefore, the amounts of soil PyC were compared to environmental covariates over an area of 327,757 km2 in the northeastern United States in order to understand the controls on PyC distribution over large areas. Topsoil (defined as the soil A horizon, after re
Authors
Verena Jauss, Patrick J. Sullivan, Jonathan Sanderman, David B. Smith, Johannes Lehmann
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Geospatial analysis identifies critical mineral-resource potential in Alaska

Alaska consists of more than 663,000 square miles (1,717,000 square kilometers) of land—more than a sixth of the total area of the United States—and large tracts of it have not been systematically studied or sampled for mineral-resource potential. Many regions of the State are known to have significant mineral-resource potential, and there are currently six operating mines in the State along with
Authors
Susan M. Karl, Keith A. Labay
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center

Regional patterns of Mesozoic-Cenozoic magmatism in western Alaska revealed by new U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages

In support of regional geologic framework studies, we obtained 50 new argon-40/argon-39 (40Ar/39Ar) ages and 33 new uranium-lead (U-Pb) ages from igneous rocks of southwestern Alaska. Most of the samples are from the Sleetmute and Taylor Mountains quadrangles; smaller collections or individual samples are from the Bethel, Candle, Dillingham, Goodnews Bay, Holy Cross, Iditarod, Kantishna River, Lak

Authors
Dwight Bradley, Marti L. Miller, Richard M. Friedman, Paul W. Layer, Heather A. Bleick, James V. Jones, Steven E. Box, Susan M. Karl, Nora B. Shew, Timothy S. White, Alison B. Till, Julie A. Dumoulin, Thomas K. Bundtzen, Paul B. O'Sullivan, Thomas D. Ullrich
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Alaska Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Subduction Zone Science

Re-Os systematics and age of pyrite associated with stratiform Zn-Pb mineralization in the Howards Pass district, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada

Stratiform Zn-Pb deposits hosted in unmetamorphosed carbonaceous and siliceous mudstones of the Ordovician to Silurian Duo Lake Formation define the Howards Pass district in Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories, western Canada. Collectively, the deposits are amongst the largest in the world, containing drill-indicated and inferred resources of 423 Mt at 4.84 % Zn and 1.59 % Pb. Sulphide textu
Authors
Karen D. Kelley, David Selby, Hendrik Falck, John F. Slack
By
Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center