Our Story
The Mineral Resources Program builds on a long and rich legacy of geological science to meet the needs of today.
Our Origin
The Mineral Resources Program has roots that extend back to the origin of the USGS. When the USGS was created by the Organic Act of 1879, one of its
primary directives was to classify the mineral resources and products within and outside of the Nation. In fact, the first mineral resources report was published in 1882 – a report that resembles the Mineral Commodity Summaries that we now produce annually.
Building on a Long Legacy
The Mineral Resources Program builds on this long and rich legacy. Quite literally, the incredible wealth of data accumulated over the past century remains a valuable resource for our scientists today. For instance, historic mineral data provides us insights into how mineral supply and demand have changed in the past and how they might change in the future. Historic maps of mines and geology provide us a foundation to remap areas in greater detail today.
Modernizing the Science
The Mineral Resources Program continues to conduct science to respond to meet emerging mineral needs. Today, there is high demand for critical minerals used in advanced technologies, including those used in batteries, satellites, advanced computers, and infrastructure related to low-carbon energy production and storage.
The Program is pioneering new methods of assessing mineral resources and modelling their supply chains. For instance, we are using modern mapping technologies to take a nation-scale view of the Nation’s geology and the minerals that it might contain. This includes assessing potential critical mineral resources that are above the ground in legacy mine wastes or that could be recovered from the waste streams of modern mines. We are also making advances in supply chain modelling, and exploring ways of using artificial intelligence to accelerate our assessments of mineral resources.
We have also responded to a growing urgency to think holistically about natural resources, including studying the impacts of legacy wastes on the environment and quantifying how future mineral resource development might impact other natural resources.
Our activities are authorized and guided by the following legislation:
43 U.S.C. 31 | The Organic Act of March 3, 1879
An act that established the Geological Survey, as amended (1962); and restated in annual appropriation acts. This section provides, among others, that the Geological Survey is directed to classify the public lands and examine the geological structure, mineral resources, and products within and outside the national domain. This section also establishes the Office of the Director of the Geological Survey, under the Interior Department. The Director is appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. P.L. 102-285 Sec. 10(a) establishes United States Geological Survey as its official name.
50 U.S.C. 98 | Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act of 1946 as amended by the Revision Act of 1979.
Supports the USGS programs for assessment of domestic minerals, especially for strategic and critical minerals, to complement the Federal mineral stockpile program. Section 98(g) of the Act requires USGS “to conduct inquiries into the economic conditions affecting mining and materials processing industries ... and related purposes as authorized by law and to publish and disseminate data …." The USGS provides scientific, technologic, and economic investigations concerning the development, mining, preparation, treatment, and utilization of ore and other mineral substances.
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. | National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.
Requires prior-to-action determination that any major Federal action will not have a significantly adverse effect upon the environment. The USGS is called upon to provide technical review or inputs to resource-related actions proposed by other Federal agencies.
30 U.S.C. 21(a) | Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970.
Emphasizes Department of the Interior responsibility for assessing the mineral resources of the Nation.
30 U.S.C 1601 et seq. | National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980.
Reemphasizes the responsibility of the Department of the Interior to assess the mineral resources of the Nation.
16 U.S.C. 1604. | Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976.
The USGS is a party in an interagency agreement with the Forest Service to assess the mineral resources of National Forests.
Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260, enacted 12/27/2020)
Sets forth in Section 623 an update to Geothermal Resource Assessments directing the Secretary of the Interior through the United States Geological Survey to update the 2008 United States geothermal resource assessment carried out by the United States Geological Survey, and to the maximum extent practicable include assessments for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the States of Alaska and Hawaii. Specifically, it directs the USGS to improve the resolution of resource potential at systematic temperatures and depths, to quantify the total potential to co-produce geothermal energy and minerals, to incorporate data relevant to underground thermal energy storage and exchange, and to produce high resolutions map that indicate key subsurface parameters for electric and direct use resources as well as induced seismicity.
Section 7002, Mineral Security, of the Energy Act of 2020 defined “critical mineral”, and directed the Secretary of the Interior acting through the Director of the USGS to publish the list of critical minerals and provide updates no less than every 3 years, it requires the MRP to conduct a national assessment of every critical mineral resource, and it requires MRP to publish the Annual Critical Minerals Outlook. The Act also directs MRP to work with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and the National Science Foundation to design an extramural granting program for research and education.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (P.L. 117-58, enacted 11/15/2021) Sec. 40201. Earth Mapping Resources Initiative.
This section of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law codifies the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative to accelerate mapping efforts at the USGS and authorizes $320,000,000 for the period of FY22-26 to complete an initial comprehensive national modern surface and subsurface mapping and data integration effort to better understand our domestic mineral resources.