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(16) stories found containing 'earth mapping resources initiative'


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  • A geologist uses a hammer to break off rocks to sample for critical minerals.

    USGS invests millions in critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 16, 2023

    In 2023 alone, the federal geological survey invested $51M into Earth MRI scans of 35 states as part of a nationwide critical minerals search. From rare earths in Northern Maine to lithium in Southern California and titanium in Florida to 29 critical minerals in Alaska, the United States Geological Survey is investing heavily in strengthening domestic supply chains for the 50 minerals and metals critical to every sector of the American economy. This nationwide search for...

  • Red rocks protrude from high desert vegetation in Texas Canyon, Arizona.

    USGS Earth MRI scans Arizona Copper Belt

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 25, 2023

    Explores critical mineral potential across large area of southeast AZ; extends a similar survey of copper belt in SW NM. In its ongoing nationwide search for minerals critical to America's economy, security, and green energy transition, the United States Geological Survey is investing more than $3.1 million into an Earth MRI scan over a more than 10,000-square-mile area of southeastern Arizona known for rich deposits of copper and other minerals. "The Arizona porphyry copper...

  • Mine tailings from Newmont Corp.'s Musselwhite Mine in Canada.

    Nextgen miners might include microbes

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 15, 2023

    Each year in Canada, roughly 200 active mines contribute to billions of tons of mining waste. The estimated number of tailing storage facilities surveyed worldwide is over 12,000. While considered industrial waste, these facilities also contain a number of useful minerals at a concentration deemed too low to be worth extracting-until now. Enter biomining, which covers several biological separation technologies offering eco-friendly recovery of valuable and strategic materials...

  • A rock hammer laying atop a pile of rare earths enriched carbonatites.

    Evidence of larger Sheep Creek REE deposit

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 24, 2023

    New geophysical surveys identify potential source of the high-grade rare earths found on the surface at Montana project. A pair of recent geophysical surveys has identified a potentially larger source of the high-grade rare earths, gallium, niobium, and other critical minerals found on the surface at U.S. Critical Materials Corp.'s Sheep Creek project in southwestern Montana. Long known as a potential domestic supply of niobium, which is a critical ingredient in high-strength...

  • University of Maine geologists hike through the forest at Pennington Mountain.

    Earth MRI scan for US critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 11, 2023

    From rare earths in Northern Maine to lithium in Southern California and graphite in Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey is on a mission to discover minerals critical to the nation's economy and clean energy goals on American soil. Or, more accurately, under American soil. This nationwide endeavor is officially called the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, but is better known as Earth MRI, a clever moniker that reflects the earth penetrating scans that are providing... Full story

  • Hands holding a heap of coal ash with potential critical minerals.

    An unconventional critical minerals push

    A.J. Roan, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 11, 2023

    As the cracks in the wall continue to chill the bones of an ill-prepared American clean-energy economy, attention has been paid to nearly every facet imaginable to obtain the minerals critical to fuel a zero-carbon future; however, all has seemingly been quiet on the unconventional front. Repeated time and time again during the ongoing transition, U.S. policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned about the overreliance on China for the minerals and metals essential to... Full story

  • USGS geologist samples a mineralized outcrop on treeless slope in Alaska.

    USGS funds new Earth MRI scans in Alaska

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 23, 2023

    Home to deposits and prospects enriched with 49 out of the 50 minerals deemed critical to the United States, Alaska is the single best state in the nation to explore for the minerals and metals needed for clean energy, electric vehicles, high-tech devices, and military hardware. To gain a better understanding of the 49th State's critical minerals potential, the U.S. Geological Survey is investing an additional $5.8 million to explore specific regions of the state in 2023....

  • Rubidoux sandstone outcropping the southern Missouri Ozark Mountains.

    USGS scours Ozarks for critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    To gain a better understanding of the potential for critical minerals in the Ozarks, the U.S. Geological Survey has partnered with Arkansas and Missouri geologists on a $2.75 million program that will result in collecting "the largest continuous swath of geophysical data in the United States focused on critical mineral resources." This program is being carried out under the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, or Earth MRI, a partnership between the USGS, Association of... Full story

  • Red oval showing the radiometric anomaly at Pennington Mountain in Maine.

    Rare Earth MRI discovery in Maine

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    A recent rare earth elements discovery in the far northern reaches of Maine demonstrates the value of the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, or Earth MRI, an aptly named project under which the USGS is partnering with state geologists to scan America's geology and critical mineral resource potential. Much like the Earth MRI name implies, the Maine project began with airborne magnetic and radiometric geophysical surveys that provided a picture of the... Full story

  • Geologist using hammer to break off a rock sample on a hillside in Alaska.

    USGS launches 3 new Earth MRI scans

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 2, 2023

    As part of its nationwide scan for domestic sources of critical minerals, the U.S. Geological Survey is investing just over $1 million to gain a better understanding of the potential for cobalt, nickel, niobium, rare earths, manganese, platinum group elements, and other essential metals in Missouri, Montana, and Minnesota. In 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior allotted more than $74 million to the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, or Earth MRI, a partnership...

  • Helicopter carrying a large oval antenna over a desert region in Nevada.

    Critical Earth MRI scan of Nevada, Oregon

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 6, 2022

    USGS to carry out Earth MRI scan of lithium-rich areas of western states. Building upon its successful scans of the United States for potential sources of minerals critical to everything from smartphones and kitchen gadgets to the electric vehicles and wind turbines powering the renewable energy future, the U.S. Geological Survey announced it is investing $1.45 million for Earth Mapping Resources Initiative programs in Nevada and Oregon. Under the cleverly named Earth MRI...

  • A helicopter equipped with geophysical survey equipment prepares for flight.

    USGS invests another $6M in Earth MRIs

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 3, 2022

    Great Plains states, CO-WY border to be scanned for critical minerals. In its ongoing quest to identify domestic sources of the 50 minerals deemed critical to America's economy and security, the U.S. Geological Survey is investing $6 million to scan northern Great Plains states and mountains spanning the Colorado-Wyoming border for 40 of these minerals essential to powering everything from household appliances and electronics to clean energy and advanced technologies. This...

  • A NASA high-altitude plane in flight over snow-covered mountains.

    Southwest US critical mineral reflections

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 18, 2022

    USGS, NASA use hyperspectral imaging to seek critical minerals in Southwest US. To gain a broader view of potential domestic sources of the minerals needed for everything from electronic devices and household tools to electric vehicles and wind turbines, the U.S. Geological Survey has teamed up with NASA to use airborne hyperspectral imaging to scan portions of the American Southwest for critical minerals. "NASA has a long history of Earth observation that shows us how the pla...

  • Tin solder is being used to repair a computer microcircuit.

    Overlooked tin connects the Digital Age

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 27, 2022

    From flashlights to supercomputers, tin is the glue for an electronic age Lost in the clamor for lithium, nickel and other metals needed for the batteries powering electric vehicles and modern electronics, or the rare earth elements that turn stored energy into motion, is the enormous need for a much more modest metal that is so fundamental to the advancement of technology that it almost goes unseen – tin. While other technology metals are critical to certain products and s... Full story

  • A USGS geologist collecting samples from an outcrop of rocks in Alaska.

    White House funds critical minerals search

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 12, 2022

    The U.S. Department of the Interior is distributing more than $74.6 million to 30 states for critical minerals investigations under the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, or Earth MRI. These investments, which include $64 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aim to help improve the understanding of domestic critical mineral resources, a key to securing a reliable, domestic, and sustainable supply of minerals and metals critical t...

  • United States Geological Survey USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020 cover

    USGS report informs critical mineral policy

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 2, 2022

    The United States depends on foreign countries for more than 50 percent of its supply of 31 minerals considered critical to the nation's economic wellbeing and national security, including 100 percent import-reliant for 14 of them, according to Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020, a recent U.S. Geological Survey report. The list of mined commodities for which the U.S. is fully reliant on foreign nations for its supply is littered with high-tech minerals and metals needed for rene...