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Quantitative Global Mineral-Resource Assessments

Project Overview

In response to the growing demand for information on the global mineral-resource base, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting the Quantitative Global Mineral Resource Assessment Project (GMRAP), a cooperative international project, begun in 2002, to assess the world's undiscovered nonfuel mineral resources.

Products

Recent Reports:

Cunningham,Charles G., Zappettini, Eduardo O., Vivallo S.,Waldo, Celada, Carlos Mario, Quispe, Jorge, Singer, Donald A., Briskey, Joseph A., Sutphin, David M., Gajardo M., Mariano, Diaz, Alejandro, Portigliati, Carlos, Berger, Vladimir I., Carrasco, Rodrigo, and Schulz, Klaus J., 2008, Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Copper, Molybdenum, Gold, and Silver in Undiscovered Porphyry Copper Deposits in the Andes Mountains of South America: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2008-1253, prepared and published jointly by the geological surveys of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and the United States. Online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1253 .

Charles G. Cunningham, Donald A. Singer., Eduardo O. Zappettini, Waldo Vivallo S., Carlos Mario Celada, Jorge Quispe, Joseph A. Briskey, David M. Sutphin, Mariano Gajardo M., Alejandro Diaz, Carlos Portigliati, Vladimir I. Berger, Rodrigo Darrasco, and Klaus J. Schulz, 2007, A Preliminary Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Undiscovered Porphyry Copper Resources in the Andes Mountains of South America:  in Society of Economic Geologists Newsletter No. 71, Oct 2007, p. 1 + 8-13.

Stephen G. Peters, Stephen D. Ludington, Greta J. Orris, David M. Sutphin, James D. Bliss, and James J. Rytuba, eds., and the U.S. Geological Survey-Afghanistan Ministry of Mines Joint Mineral Resource Assessment Team, 2007,  Preliminary Non-Fuel Mineral Resource Assessment of Afghanistan 2007:  USGS Open-File Report 2007-1214, 810 pages, plus 1 CD-ROM and 1 DVD.  Online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1214/.     Prepared in cooperation with the Afghanistan Geological Survey under the auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Afghanistan project activities are described at http://afghanistan.cr.usgs.gov/.

 
Stephen G. Peters., 2007, Preliminary Assessment of Non-Fuel Mineral Resources of Afghanistan, 2007:  U.S.G.S. Fact Sheet 2007-3063, 4 p. Other Afghanistan project documents are described at http://afghanistan.cr.usgs.gov/ .

Metallogenesis and Tectonics of Northeast Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183,
edited by Warren J. Nokleberg, Leonid M. Parfenov, Gombosuren Badarch, Nikolai A. Berzin, Duk Hwan Hwang, Alexander I. Khanchuk, Mikhail I. Kuzmin, Alexander A. Obolenskiy, Masatsugu Ogasawara, Andrei V. Prokopiev, Sergey M. Rodionov, Alexander P. Smelov, Hongquan Yan, and Michael F. Diggles, 2007. Prepared in collaboration with Russian Academy of Sciences, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Korean Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources, Geological Survey of Japan/AIST, and Jilin University. Chapters:

• Chapter A. Parfenov, L.M., Badarch, G., Berzin, N.A., Hwang, D.H., Khanchuk, A.I., Kuzmin, M.I., Nokleberg, W.J., Obolenskiy, A.O., Ogasawara, M., Prokopiev, A.V., Rodionov, S.M., Smelov, A.P., and Yan, H., 2007, Introduction to regional geology, metallogenesis, and tectonics of Northeast Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183-A, 58 p. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1183/a/ .
  
• Chapter B. Nokleberg, W.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Dawson, K.M., Eremin, R.A., Goryachev, N.A., Khanchuk, A.I., Monger, J.W.H., Obolenskiy, A.A., Parfenov, L.M., Prokopiev, A.V., Ratkin, V.V., Rodionov, S.M., and Spikerman, V.I., 2007, Methodology of combined regional metallogenic and tectonic analysis: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183-B, 43 p. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1183/b/
  
• Chapter C. Obolenskiy, A.A., Rodionov, S.M., Ariunbileg, S., Dejidmaa, G., Distanov, E.G., Dorjgotov, D., Gerel, O., Hwang, D.H., Sun, F., Gotovsurven, A., Letunov, S.N., Li, X., Nokleberg, W.J., Ogasawara, M., Ratkin, V.V., Seminskiy, Z.V., Shpikerman, V.I., Goryachev, N.A., Smelov, A.P., Sotnikov, V.I., Spiridonov, A.A., Zorina, L.V., and Yan, H., 2007, Mineral deposit models for Northeast Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183-C 123 p. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1183/c/
  
• Appendix A. Nokleberg, W.J.,Parfenov, L.M., Khanchuk, A.I., Kuzmin, M.I., Obolenskiy, A.A., Prokopiev, A.V., Rodionov, S.M., Smelov, A.P., Badarch, G., Yan, H.,Hwang, D.H., and Ogasawara, M., 2007, Appendix A - Description of Northeast Asia Project and Associated Products: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183-Appendix A, 25 p. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1183/appendix-a/
  
• Appendix B. Parfenov, L.M., Badarch, G., Berzin, N.A., Hwang, D.H., Khanchuk, A.I., Kuzmin, M.I., Nokleberg, W.J., Obolenskiy, A.A., Ogasawara, M., Prokopiev, A.V., Rodionov, S.M., Smelov, A.P., and Yan, H., 2007, Appendix B – Description of map units for Northeast Asia Summary Geodynamics Map: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183-Appendix B, 26 p. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1183/appendix-b/
  
• Appendix C. Rodionov,S.M., Obolenskiy, A.A., Distanov, E.G., Badarch, G., Dejidmaa, G., Hwang, D.H., Khanchuk, A.I., Ogasawara, M., Nokleberg, W.J., Parfenov, L.M., Prokopiev, A.V., Seminskiy, Z.V., Smelov, A.P., Yan, H., Davydov, Y.V., Fridovskiy, V.F., Gamyanin, G.N., Gerel, O., Kostin, A.V., Letunov, S.A., Li, X., Nikitin, V.M., Ratkin, V.V., Shpikerman, V.I., Sudo, S., Sotnikov, V.I., Spiridonov, A.V., Stepanov, V.A., Sun, F., Sun, J., Sun, W., Supletsov, V.M., Timofeev, V.F., Tyan, O.A., Vetluzhskikh, V.G., Wakita, K., Yakovlev, Y.V., and Zorina, L.M., 2007, Appendix C – Summary of Major Metallogenic Belts for Northeast Asia (Russian Far East, Yakutia, Eastern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Northern China, Mongolia, South Korea, and Japan): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1183-Appendix C, 43 p. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1183/appendix-c/
  

Regional Reports:

Primary Objectives

The USGS conducts national and global assessments of resources (mineral, energy, water, biologic) to provide science in support of decisionmaking.  Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about where mineral deposits are known and suspected in the Earth’s crust, what commodities may be present, and estimates of amounts of resources that may be present in undiscovered deposits.  The Global Mineral Resource Assessment Project started in 2002 as a cooperative international effort to assess the world’s undiscovered nonfuel mineral resources.  Primary objectives are to:

• Outline the regional locations and estimate the probable amounts of the world’s undiscovered resources of copper, platinum-group elements (PGE), and potash in selected types of mineral deposits to depths of 1 to 3 kilometers below the Earth’s surface.
• Provide the first globally consistent and comprehensive analysis of undiscovered nonfuel mineral resources to provide all nations with a regional and global context for evaluating their mineral resources, planning for new mineral exploration and anticipating the economic, environmental, and social impacts of mineral development, and making land use decisions.

The project emphasizes the most important types of mineral deposits for world supply of copper, platinum-group elements (PGE) and nickel, and potash.