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Updated National Mineral Resource Assessment - Planning Phase

Project Objectives

The importance of conducting national assessments on a recurring basis to ensure adequate mineral supplies and effective stewardship of resources in the future was a significant conclusion of the National Mineral Resource Assessment of 1995 (U.S. Geological Circular 1178, 1998).

The principal objective of the updated National Mineral Resource Assessment (uNMRA)-- Planning Phase Project is to lay the groundwork for conducting the first quantitative mineral resource assessment of the 21st Century for the United States of America. The Nation’s mineral wealth was first addressed in the Paley Commission Report of 1952 (President’s Materials Policy Commission, 1952). Subsequently, the USGS published Professional Paper 820 (Brobst and Pratt, 1973) in response to the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970. The need for developing a systematic and uniform approach to national mineral resource assessments was recognized within the USGS and the next assessment effort, begun in 1995, focused on applying quantitative methodologies to the analysis of mineral resources. The importance of conducting quantitative national assessments on a recurring basis to ensure adequate mineral supplies and effective stewardship of resources in the future was a critical conclusion of the National Mineral Resource Assessment of 1995 (U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1178, 1998).

The following activities must be completed before beginning the national assessment update (in 2012):

1. identify critical commodities to be assessed and define the scope of the assessment process;
2. update mineral deposit models;
3. identify and obtain new knowledge critical to the assessment;
4. ensure that the analytical methodology/software critical to conducting the assessment is updated;
5. develop economic sensitivity measures to filter and refine numerical assessment data;
6. develop measures of assessment uncertainty;
7. engage the user community and solicit input concerning how best to communicate the results of the assessment;
8. conduct historical trend analysis pertaining to exploration and discovery;
9. digitally systemize national-scale earth science data;
10. initiate discourse to determine how our earth science colleagues can be marshalled in support of this effort;
11. develop a conceptual framework for placing the updated national mineral resource assessment in the context of the Global Mineral Resource assessment;
12. determine how large scale structural events have influenced ore forming processes;
13. compile data for known, large scale mineralizing systems.

Completion of these objectives will place staff associated with the Mineral Resources Program in a favorable position to conduct an updated quantitative national mineral resource assessment.

Relevance & Impact

Given the objectives of the Project described here, namely laying the groundwork for conducting a systematic and comprehensive quantitative assessment of the nation's mineral resource potential, few investigations within the purview of the Mineral Resources Program are apt to be of greater significance. The assessment will be conducted in the context of a world dominated by uncertainty, globalization, and a complex array of free and controlled markets that result in rapid fluctuations in prices of materials and goods that dramatically impact domestic markets. Resource information transmitted to the Departments of Commerce and State potentially has tremendous impact on the nature of our nation's political alliances and economic interactions. The requirements for developing systematic, rigorous, comprehensive, and quantitative mineral resource assessments of metal and non-metal resources of the Nation are a essential component of the USGS mission. The importance of conducting national assessments on a recurring basis to ensure adequate mineral supplies and effective stewardship of resources in the future is a critical action to meet current and future goals of the USGS.