The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - November 6, 2023
USGS is carrying out Earth MRI scans for critical minerals in southeast Arizona, an area known for large copper deposits.
Map of copper belt covering parts of New Mexico and Arizona.
In its ongoing nationwide search for minerals critical to America's economy, security, and green energy transition, the United States Geological Survey is investing more than $3.1 million into an Earth MRI scan over a more than 10,000-square-mile area of southeastern Arizona known for rich deposits of copper and other minerals.
"The Arizona porphyry copper belt is one of the world's greatest sources of copper and molybdenum, among other mineral commodities," said Mark Bultman, a USGS geoscientist leading the Arizona survey.
Short for Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, Earth MRI is a national initiative being carried out under a partnership between the USGS, Association of American State Geologists, and state geological surveys to better understand America's geology and mineral resource potential through new mapping, geophysics, and geochemical sampling.
The main Earth MRI scan of southeastern Arizona will involve magnetic and radiometric geophysical surveys.
The magnetic survey can detect magnetic minerals in exposed and deeply buried rocks, which can be used to identify ancient faults, magma bodies, and other geologic features. The radiometric data will provide clues to the relative amounts of potassium, uranium, and thorium in exposed rocks and soil. Geoscientists can use the data from these surveys to help identify where buried deposits of minerals and metals might be located.
"The survey of southeastern Arizona covers a region with a remarkable copper endowment, multiple mining operations, and continued exploration efforts," said Carson Richardson, chief of mineral resources and bedrock geology for the Arizona Geological Survey. "The results will be of significant importance to the general public and the minerals industry as we look for resources needed for the green energy transition."
In addition to copper, the southeastern Arizona Earth MRI scan is focused on seeking out domestic sources of 26 minerals critical to the U.S.:
• Aluminum – A critical base metal used in almost every sector of the U.S. economy.
• Arsenic – Used in gallium-arsenide semiconductors for solar cells and telecommunications.
• Bismuth – The heaviest and only non-toxic heavy metal, used in medical and atomic research.
• Gallium – A tech metal used in smartphones, communication networks, LEDs, and solar cells.
• Germanium – Used in semiconductors for fiber optics, night vision gear, and microchips.
• Indium – Used in a transparent conducting film applied to flat-panel displays and touchscreens.
• Lithium – A highly demanded ingredient for rechargeable batteries powering electric vehicles.
• Manganese – An increasingly important metal used for steelmaking and in lithium-ion batteries.
• Rare Earths – A suite of 14 U.S. critical minerals with a broad range of tech and industrial uses.
• Tellurium – A rare metal used in solar cells, thermoelectric devices, and as an alloying additive.
• Tin – Widely used in solders for EVs, advanced robotics, renewable energy, and computers.
• Tungsten – An extremely durable metal that has long been strategically important to the U.S.
• Zinc – Used in galvanized steel that extends the life of renewable energy and other infrastructure.
The survey also extends a similar Earth MRI scan carried out over a roughly 10,000-square-mile area of southwestern New Mexico earlier this year.
"Given that this survey directly abuts the New Mexico porphyry copper belt survey completed earlier in 2023, the two surveys will make a major contribution to understanding the mineral endowment of more than 20,000 square miles of highly prospective mineral terrane in the southwest U.S.," said Bultman.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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