Future Challenges for the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Resources Program (2003) / Chapter Skim
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1 Minerals Science and Information: The Federal Role
1 Minerals Science and Information: The Federal Role
Pages 17-32
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. ~ In this report, minerals are defined as all nonfuel mineral resources, including industrial minerals such as aggregates.
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Spanning diverse geologic terrains, this country hosts an enormous range of mineral deposit types (Ashley, 1991; Tooker, 1991; Brobst, 1991~. Metals from aluminum to zinc and nonmetals from construction aggregate to specialty clay minerals are illustrative of this mineral resource endowment.
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However, in a trend with direct implications for the USGS's Mineral Resources Program (MRP) , industrial minerals production increased by slightly less than 50 percent between 1992 and 2000 (see Figure 1.2)
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Extraction of mineral deposits can degrade the environment. The effects of mining are not confined to the United States.
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NOTE: Where there were discrepancies between the Minerals Yearbook, data were taken from the latest publication. American consumers directly or indirectly obtain more of their mineral resources from such countries, there will be an increasing need, in terms of both economics and policy, to ensure that minerals are developed in an environmentally responsible manner and to consider our place in a sustainable global environment.
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The United States has the ability to mine some strategic minerals domestically and/or to stockpile them by purchase from foreign entities.
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Over time, advances in minerals science and improvements in minerals information contribute to greater availability of minerals, at lower cost and with less environmental damage. Minerals science and information help society respond to the depletion of known mineral deposits and contribute to the substitution of relatively abundant minerals for increasingly scarce ones.
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These models help assess potential environmental consequences of developing a mine of a particular type in a specific location and, in the case of abandoned mines, assist in understanding what the baseline environmental quality may have been prior to mining. Baseline geological, geochemical, and geophysical data help mineral exploration teams narrow their searches to the most promising targets.
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In other cases the private sector does not collect the information because the costs are prohibitive from the perspective of a single company relative to the benefits it receives, even if from society's perspective the aggregate benefits would justify the costs. Although state geological surveys play an important role in generating and disseminating information related to mineral resources, the federal government has a unique role in addressing issues of national jurisdiction and significance (NRC, 1996~.
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The third role is acivisory. Federal agencies within the Department of the Interior and elsewhere in the government need to make public policy decisions related to mineral issues for example, land management, environmental remediation of abandoned mines, international trade, and foreign policy.
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can contribute to solutions of a variety of problems (see Sidebar 1 .41. The fourth federal role in minerals science and information is international undertaking or supporting international activities that are in the national interest.
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In addition, as the nation and world consider the reality of global environmental responsibilities and sustainable development, the United States has an opportunity to provide technical advice and assistance to developing nations for mineral development with a balance of environmental protection and economic growth. An example of an MRP activity that fulfiIs the international role is the global mineral resource assessment.
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The environmental and natural resource activities deal with physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes in nature and with the impact of human actions on natural systems. The MRP activities directly support the USGS mission goal on the environment and natural resources.
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Six years following its 1996 review of the USGS's minerals program, the NRC was asked to examine the USGS's actions with respect to the 1996 NRC recommendations and incorporation of the minerals information function and consider future aspects of the Mineral Resources Program. The NRC was not asked to conduct a comprehensive
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1995-1996 Budget for USGS is cut; reduction in force for Geologic Division; minerals information function is transferred to USGS with the abolishment of the Bureau of Mines; and development of MRSP plan 1996 National Research Council reviews MRSP 1997- Evolution of present-day MRP present SOURCE: Adapted from NRC (2001) and John DeYoung, USGS, personal communication, 2002.
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The committee was briefed by and received written information from USGS managers and scientists, federal land managers, and mineral resource and environmental experts from industry, nonprofit organizations, academia, and state and federal government agencies (Appendix C)
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