Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center

USGS scientists Brian Jaskula and Robert Ayuso collecting samples at Spor Mountain, Utah.

A sample of pyrite and quartz. Iron pyrite, also known as Fool's Gold due to its resemblance to gold, often occurs in quartz veins. Pyrite is an important source of sulfur dioxide, which is primarily used to create sulfuric acid, an important industrial acid. In fact, consumption of sulfuric acid has been regarded as one of the best indexes of a nation's industrial

USGS scientists gathering samples for analysis at Spor Mountain, Utah.

A sample of native gold. Gold has been treasured since ancient times for its beauty and permanence.   Most of the gold that is fabricated today goes into the manufacture of jewelry, but it also performs critical functions in computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, jet aircraft engines, and a host of other products. Read more about gold

Overlying Spor Mountain rhyolite caprock and underlying Beryllium Tuff member. 

This is a sample of rutile, one of the primary mineral sources of titanium. While as a metal, titanium is well known for corrosion resistance and for its high strength-to-weight ratio, approximately 95% of titanium is consumed in the form of titanium dioxide (TiO₂), a white pigment used in paints, paper, and plastics. Read more about titanium

Spor Mountain open pit; mineralized tuff in foreground; mine staff and USGS scientists collecting samples.

A sample of augelite and quartz. Augelite is an aluminum phosphate mineral, primarily prized for collecting rather than as a source for its industrial mineral components.

Sample provided by Carlin Green, USGS. Sample originated from Mundo Nuevo Mine, Peru, and is 3.7cm in size.

Cross-polarized light photomicrograph of minerals in drill core samples from the Local Boy deposit, Duluth Complex, Minnesota. The number in the upper right hand corner is the drill core number.

This is a sample of axinite with iron, making it ferroaxinite. Axinite is primarily used as a collectors mineral.

Sample provided by Carlin Green, USGS. Sample originated from Puiva Mount, Russia, and is 3.0cm in size.

Cross-polarized light photomicrograph of minerals in drill core samples from the Local Boy deposit, Duluth Complex, Minnesota. The number in the upper right hand corner is the drill core number.