Tungsten Deposits in the United States (ver. 2.0, August 2020)

Dates

Publication Date: 2018-08-27
Last Revision: 2020-08-31

Citation

Karl, N.A., Carroll, T.R., Burger, M.H., Knudsen, L.D., Long, K.R., Reyes, T.A., and Schmeda, G., 2020, Tungsten Deposits in the United States (ver. 2.0, August 2020): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P97NJLI4.

Summary

This is version 2.0 of Tungsten Deposits in the United States. This data release provides the descriptions of approximately 100 U.S. sites that include mineral regions, mineral occurrences (deposits), and mine features that contain enrichments of tungsten (W). This data release reports on U.S. mines and deposits with greater than or equal to 215 metric tons of tungsten metal (30,000 short ton units of tungsten trioxide). Sites in this database occur in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington. As a part of the process set forth by Executive Order 13817, the USGS National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) identified W as a critical mineral due to the import [...]

Summary

This is version 2.0 of Tungsten Deposits in the United States. This data release provides the descriptions of approximately 100 U.S. sites that include mineral regions, mineral occurrences (deposits), and mine features that contain enrichments of tungsten (W). This data release reports on U.S. mines and deposits with greater than or equal to 215 metric tons of tungsten metal (30,000 short ton units of tungsten trioxide). Sites in this database occur in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington.

As a part of the process set forth by Executive Order 13817, the USGS National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) identified W as a critical mineral due to the import reliance and importance in the sectors of aerospace, defense, energy, and telecommunications (Department of the Interior, 2018; Fortier and others, 2018). Tungsten is necessary for strategic, consumer, and commercial applications. Due to its strength, hardness, and high melting and boiling points, W is used in wear-resistant applications, specialty steel and alloys, and electrical and chemical products. Tungsten minerals were an important part of the United States’ industrialization efforts and the domestic mining picture for a majority of the 20th century. Despite reduced domestic production, the need for W minerals and their downstream components remains high. As of 2020, the United States had a net import reliance of more than 50 percent for W, where the commodity is primarily being imported from China, Bolivia, Germany, and Spain (U.S. Geological Survey, 2020).

Tungsten mineralogy is diverse; it occurs in a variety of minerals with the most common being scheelite, ferberite, and hübnerite. In the United States, W ore is most commonly derived from skarns, veins, and porphyry mineral deposits.

The entries and descriptions in the database are derived from published papers, reports, data, and internet documents representing a variety of sources, including geologic and exploration studies described in State, Federal, and industry reports. Resource information extracted from older sources might not be compliant with current rules and guidelines in minerals industry standards such as National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). The inclusion of a particular W mineral deposit in this database is not meant to imply that the deposit is currently economic. Rather, these deposits are included to capture the characteristics of the larger W deposits in the United States. Inclusion of material in the database is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The authors welcome additional published information in order to continually update and refine this dataset.

Department of the Interior, 2018, Final list of critical minerals 2018: Federal Register, v. 83, no. 97, p. 23295-23296, https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2018-10667.

Fortier, S.M., Nassar, N.T., Lederer, G.W., Brainard, J., Gambogi, J., and McCullough, E.A., 2018, Draft critical mineral list—Summary of methodology and background information—U.S. Geological Survey technical input document in response to Secretarial Order No. 3359: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2018-1021, 15 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20181021.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2020, Mineral commodity summaries 2020: U.S. Geological Survey, 200 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ mcs2020.

Contacts

Point of Contact :: Jeffrey L Mauk
Originator :: Nick A Karl, Thomas R Carroll, Meredith H Burger, Liam D Knudsen, Keith R Long, Tyler A Reyes, German Schmeda
Metadata Contact :: Carma A San Juan
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
USGS Mission Area :: Energy and Minerals
USGS Program :: Mineral Resources Program
SDC Data Owner :: Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

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USGS_Tungsten_ver2_US_Metadata.xml “Data documentation and instructions” Original FGDC Metadata	View	117.65 KB	application/fgdc+xml
00Readme_Tungsten_ver2.txt “Readme file”		4.57 KB	text/plain
USGS_Tungsten_US Revision History.txt “Revision history file”		3.69 KB	text/plain
USGS_Tungsten_ver2_CSV.zip “Tungsten ver. 2.0 data (CSV files and Data Dictionary)”		75.28 KB	application/zip
USGS_Tungsten_ver2_Excel.zip “Tungsten ver. 2.0 data (Excel files and Data Dictionary)”		616.74 KB	application/zip
USGS_Tungsten_ver2_US_Geodatabase.gdb.zip “Tungsten ver. 2.0 Geodatabase”		832.48 KB	application/zip
USGS_Tungsten_ver2_US_Metadata.zip “Tungsten ver. 2.0 Metadata (XML, HTML, TXT)”		105.38 KB	application/zip
USGS_Tungsten_ver2_Shapefiles.zip “Tungsten ver. 2.0 Shapefiles (and CSV files)”		307.35 KB	application/zip
USGS_Tungsten_US_Thumbnail.png “Tungsten minerals - ferberite and scheelite”		1.14 MB	image/png

Extension: USGS_Tungsten_ver2_US_MapService.zip
USGS_Tungsten_ver2_US_MapService.sd “ArcGIS service definition, contains mxd and GIS data”		1.21 MB

Related External Resources

Type: Web Link

Other products by and additional information on the USGS Mineral Deposit Database Project	https://www.usgs.gov/energy-and-minerals/mineral-resources-program/science/usmin-mineral-deposit-database?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
Additional interactive maps and downloadable data: USGS Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data	https://mrdata.usgs.gov/
USGS National Minerals Information Center (NMIC): Tungsten	https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/tungsten/
Grade and Tonnage Model for Tungsten Skarn Deposits—2020 Update	https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20205085

Purpose

This dataset was developed as part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Geological Survey to inventory public information on critical mineral deposits within the United States that have record of production and (or) resources above a specified cutoff limit. In the case of tungsten, the cutoff was set at 215 metric tons of tungsten metal. This represents, approximately the largest 10 percent of known U.S. deposits. These geospatial data provide location, geologic description, and production and resource information. In general, USGS uses this information to delineate permissive tracts (geographic areas in which specific types of mineral deposits may occur), develop assessments of potential undiscovered mineral resources, determine where and how the environmental effects of mining may be observed, and understand the natural variability found in mineral deposits of particular types. These data also support the Federal strategic objective to secure reliable supplies of critical minerals by providing information for geoscience research and mineral exploration to State and Federal agencies, private industry, and the general public.

Tungsten Deposits in the United States (ver. 2.0, August 2020)

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