Locatable Mineral Assessment Tracts for the U.S. Geological Survey Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment Project

Dates

Publication Date: 2016-10-26
Time Period: 2016-10-26

Citation

San Juan, C.A., Horton, J.D., Parks, H.L., Mihalasky, M.J., Anderson, E.D., Benson, Mary Ellen, Box, S.E., Cossette, P.M., Denning, P.D., Giles, S.A., Hall, S.M., Hayes, T.S., Hearn, Jr., C.B., Hofstra, A.H., John, D.A., Ludington, S.D., Lund, Karen, Mauk, J.L., Robinson, G.R., Rockwell, B.W., Rytuba, J.J., Smith, S.M., Stillings, L.L., Van Gosen, B.S., Vikre, P.G., Wallis, John, Wilson, A.B., Zientek, M.L., and Zürcher, Lukas, 2016, Locatable Mineral Assessment Tracts for the U.S. Geological Survey Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment Project: U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7833Q4R.

Summary

The polygon (vector) feature class represents locatable mineral resource assessment tracts (tracts of land) associated with the Department of the Interior (DOI) Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Montana, Wyoming and Utah, central Idaho, and the Oregon-Nevada-Idaho border area. The mineral-resources tracts are geographic areas that were assessed by the USGS and were determined to be geologically favorable for a deposit type of interest to a depth of 1 kilometer. Qualitative assessment methods outlined by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) were used to develop tract boundaries and to assign a level of mineral-resource potential and certainty to each tract. The general process included (1) identifying possible mineral deposit types for [...]

Summary

The polygon (vector) feature class represents locatable mineral resource assessment tracts (tracts of land) associated with the Department of the Interior (DOI) Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Montana, Wyoming and Utah, central Idaho, and the Oregon-Nevada-Idaho border area. The mineral-resources tracts are geographic areas that were assessed by the USGS and were determined to be geologically favorable for a deposit type of interest to a depth of 1 kilometer. Qualitative assessment methods outlined by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) were used to develop tract boundaries and to assign a level of mineral-resource potential and certainty to each tract. The general process included (1) identifying possible mineral deposit types for locatable commodities specified by BLM for each focal area, (2) outlining those areas that potentially contained mineral deposits based on geology, mineral occurrences, geophysics, soil and stream-sediment geochemistry, alteration mineral assemblages inferred from satellite imagery, BLM claims and permit data, mineral-exploration activity, and existing mineral-resource assessment data, and (3) evaluating the level of mineral-resource potential and level of certainty associated with the outlined areas using BLM assessment categories. A full description of the assessment is provided in the accompanying report (Day and others, 2016).

SFAs, identified by agencies of the DOI, are high-quality sagebrush habitat areas supporting high densities of breeding greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). SFAs are within priority habitat areas or areas where land-use measures are intended to minimize or avoid habitat disturbance. Seven SFAs are within the USGS Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment Project study area. They include the Bear River Watershed, North-Central Idaho, North-Central Montana, Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada, Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada, and Southwestern and South-Central Wyoming SFAs, as well as additional areas in Nevada (termed the “Nevada additions”) proposed by the State of Nevada. Landscape-scale conservation efforts by the BLM, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), State agencies, private land owners, and other partners are striving to conserve the breeding sagebrush habitat for the greater sage-grouse across these areas.

Accompanying report (Chapter A): Day, W.C., Hammarstrom, J.M., Zientek, M.L., and Frost, T.P., eds., 2016, Overview with methods and procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey mineral-resource assessment of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089, 211 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165089.

To quickly view the data, please access the ScienceBase interactive map viewer via the "Map" link in the upper-right corner of this page. Additional data functionality is described within the "Data_access_README.pdf" file that can be viewed or downloaded from the Attached Files area below.

Contacts

Point of Contact :: San Juan, Carma A.
Originator :: San Juan, Carma A., Horton, John D., Parks, Heather L., Mihalasky, Mark J., Anderson, Eric D., Benson, Mary Ellen, Box, Stephen E., Cossette, Pamela M., Denning, Paul D., Giles, Stuart A., Hall, Susan M., Hayes, Timothy S., Hearn, Jr., Carter B., Hofstra, Albert H., John, David A., Ludington, Stephen D., Lund, Karen, Mauk, Jeffrey L., Robinson, Gilpin R., Rockwell, Barnaby W., Rytuba, James J., Smith, Steven M., Stillings, Lisa L., Van Gosen, Bradley S., Vikre, Peter G., Wallis, John, Wilson, Anna B., Zientek, Michael L., Zürcher, Lukas
Metadata Contact :: Carma A San Juan
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey-ScienceBase
USGS Mission Area :: Energy and Minerals
SDC Data Owner :: Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Attached Files

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USGS_SaMiRA_Tracts_Metadata.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	29.84 KB	application/fgdc+xml
Version_History.txt		1.22 KB	text/plain
Data_access_README.pdf		416.27 KB	application/pdf
USGS_SaMiRA_Tracts_Geodatabase.zip “ArcGIS 10.3 Geodatabase”		29.79 MB	application/zip
USGS_SaMiRA_Tracts_Shapefiles.zip “Shapefiles”		11.24 MB	application/zip

Extension: USGS_SaMiRA_Tracts.zip
USGS_SaMiRA_Tracts.sd		7.86 MB

Related External Resources

Type: Related Primary Publication

Day, W.C., Hammarstrom, J.M., Zientek, M.L., and Frost, T.P., eds., 2016, Overview with methods and procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey mineral-resource assessment of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5089, 211 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165089.	http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165089

Purpose

The polygons representing mineral-resource assessment tracts are suitable for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or other database and geospatial software. The data may be used to derive maps, perform geospatial analyses, or to evaluate mineral-resource potential of locatable minerals in the SFAs. The information is intended to meet the needs of a wide community of users that includes the geoscience and mineral-exploration communities, as well as State and Federal agencies, private industry, and the general public.

Locatable Mineral Assessment Tracts for the U.S. Geological Survey Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment Project

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