THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN STATE GEOLOGISTS AND THE USGS EARTH MAPPING RESOURCES INITIATIVE: FOSTERING COLLABORATION AND INNOVATIVE MAPPING TO EXPLORE FOR CRITICAL MINERAL COMMODITIES (Invited Presentation)

The relationship between the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) founded in 1908 and the U.S. Geological Survey created in 1879 has been complex, dynamic, and productive throughout the past century. The National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 formalized a partnership between the USGS and the AASG in the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) which, among other things, established STATEMAP, a program to provide Federal funds, matched with State funds, to support mapping by AASG-member states. The NCGMP also established EDAMP in 1996 which provides matching funds for graduate-level mapping – well suited for the 20+ AASG-members who reside on campus. The National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDDP), established in 2005, provides funds to 20+ AASG-member surveys each year to rescue, preserve, and make available historic data related to geology and mineral resources; success stories of “discovered” data abound. Nearly 115 years of collaboration among AASG-member geologic surveys and 31 years of cooperative efforts with USGS partners has fostered geologic mapping at a wide range of scales and all manner of map-types that describe geology, mineral resources, groundwater, hazards, and geomorphology that support critical decisions and advances geological sciences. Under an executive order published in 2017, the US recognized its dependence on foreign sources for 35 mineral commodities essential for military, energy, and medical applications. The Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI), managed by the USGS Mineral Resources Program, was activated in 2019 to meet the demand to discover and evaluate potential deposits. AASG member states responded to the call for new cooperative agreements focused on critical minerals, with matching funds, to support new geologic mapping through the NCGMP and data preservation through the NGGDDP. There are now nearly 130 projects completed and active projects throughout the US as of 2023; projects include mapping, geophysical surveys, reconnaissance geochemistry, and mine waste. The four short years of the program has produced exciting results that will support important decisions related to development and waste management of mineral resources throughout the US.