Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative

Country / jurisdiction: United States · Year: 2018 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

The Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative is an international collaborative effort between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) aiming to build a diversified critical minerals industry in Australia, Canada, and the United States by developing a better understanding of known critical mineral resources. The initiative also works to determine geologic controls on critical mineral distribution for deposits currently producing byproducts, to identify new sources of supply through critical mineral potential mapping and quantitative mineral assessments and to promote critical mineral discovery in all three countries. The initiative also includes the integration and consolidation of certain GA, GSC and USGS databases to form the beginnings of a global database necessary to understand the controls on critical mineral distribution and to increase accuracy in mineral resource assessments.

The main objectives of the initiative include:

to promote a collective understanding of critical minerals science;

to share data;

to identify knowledge gaps;

to unify critical minerals analyses from all three countries;

to build upon existing datasets for use in critical mineral assessments;

to improve the knowledge base of critical mineral concentrations in different deposit types;

to leverage strengths to enhance working relationships and share expertise.

Official source: https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2020/3035/fs20203035.pdf