Mission Areas
Energy and Minerals
The Energy and Minerals Mission Area conducts research and assessments that focus on the location, quantity, and quality of mineral and energy resources, including the economic and environmental effects of resource extraction and use.
Energy Resources Program
Conducts basic and applied research on geologic energy resources and on the environmental, economic, and human health impacts of their production and use.The program is also involved in studying the impacts of wind and solar energy development.
Learn MoreMineral Resources Program
Provides scientific information for objective resource assessments and unbiased research results on mineral potential, production, consumption, and environmental effects. The MRP is the sole Federal source for this information.
Learn MoreNews
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Gallium Deposits in the United States
In the latest database update based on the Critical Minerals List, the USGS has added Gallium to USMIN.
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Tantalum Deposits in the United States
The USGS has added the critical mineral commodity tantalum to USMIN.
USGS Updates Mineral Database with Niobium Deposits in the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has updated its USMIN Mineral Deposit Database (USMIN) for the mineral commodity niobium, one of 35 mineral commodities declared critical by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Sites in this dataset occur in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas.
Publications
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten
In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of critical minerals, the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was established to identify and prioritize areas for acquisition of new geologic mapping, geophysical data, and elevation data to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework of the United States. Phase 1...
Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Dicken, Connie L.; Day, Warren C.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Drenth, Benjamin J.; Shah, Anjana K.; McCafferty, Anne E.; Woodruff, Laurel G.; Foley, Nora K.; Ponce, David A.; Frost, Thomas P.; Stillings, Lisa L.
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in Alaska—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten, chap. C of U.S. Geological Survey, Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals
Phase 2 of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) focuses on geologic belts that are favorable for hosting mineral systems that may contain select critical minerals. Phase 1 of the Earth MRI program focused on rare earth elements (REE), and phase 2 adds aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group metals, tantalum, tin...
Kreiner, Douglas C.; Jones, James V.
International geoscience collaboration to support critical mineral discovery
The importance of critical minerals and the need to expand and diversify critical mineral supply chains has been endorsed by the Federal governments of Australia, Canada, and the United States. The geoscience organizations of Geoscience Australia, the Geological Survey of Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey have created the Critical Minerals...