A NEW COMPILATION OF PAST, CURRENT, AND POSSIBLY FUTURE CRITICAL MINERAL DEPOSITS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES; A COMPANION TO EARTH MRI FOCUS AREAS

As part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) (https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/earth-mri), the U.S. Geological Survey, in partnership with State geological surveys, has identified broad ‘focus’ areas within the United States known to, or with the potential to, host deposits containing critical minerals (Dicken and others, 2022: https://doi.org/10.5066/ P9DIZ9N8). These focus areas are based on favorable geology and/or mineral deposit occurrences and are categorized using a mineral system/deposit type framework. To prioritize regions within these focus areas for future work, we compiled a database of 681 locations known to contain critical minerals from either past/current production data or from documented resource information. The 681 mineral deposits were gleaned from the USGS MRDS, ARDF, and USMIN databases, as well as from industry reports and the literature. Production and/or resource data are included in the database to further characterize the size, status, and potential of each entry. Deposits are ranked by their critical mineral status as past, current, or potential future producers, and the presence or absence of known reserves or resources; 244 of the entries lack production information but have recognized critical mineral resources. This subset represents possible untapped critical mineral potential. This new mineral deposit database more precisely delineates critical mineral deposits within regional focus areas and will enhance prioritization of targets across the country for acquisition of Earth MRI-funded geologic mapping, geochemical data, and airborne geophysics. The combination of focus areas and individual, well characterized mineral deposits highlights regional critical mineral potential within the U.S., such as Co-Ni in the Lake Superior region; Cr-PGE from California, Oregon, and Montana; Al-Li potential in Nevada and Utah; REE from California, New Mexico, and Texas; as well as possible byproduct Re in porphyry copper deposits in Arizona and New Mexico and Ge and Ga in MVT Zn deposits in Missouri and Tennessee. The data also confirm the tremendous mineral potential of Alaska. This new data compilation was recently made public as a USGS data release (https://doi.org/10.5066/P9K1HBNT).