Mineral Resource of the Month

The column "Mineral Resource of the Month", featuring the work of USGS mineral commodity specialists, now appears in the American Geological Institute's (AGI) magazine Earth (formerly Geotimes) with selected articles online at the Earth Magazine's Mineral Resource of the Month Archive. For more information about these and other mineral commodities, visit the USGS Commodity Statistics and Information site.

Related

Below are publications associated with this project.

Filter Total Items: 140

Mineral resource of the month: Garnet Mineral resource of the month: Garnet

Garnet is the general name given to a group of complex silicate minerals, all with isometric crystal structure and similar properties and chemical composition. The most common garnet minerals are classified into three groups: the aluminum-garnet group, the chromium-garnet group and the iron-garnet group. Worldwide, garnet resources are large and occur in a wide variety of rocks...
Authors
Kenneth C. Curry

Mineral resource of the month: Chromium Mineral resource of the month: Chromium

Although chromium is a metal, it does not occur naturally in metallic form. Chromium can be found in many minerals, but the only economically significant chromium-bearing mineral is chromite. Chromite has been mined from four different deposit types: stratiform chromite, podiform chromite, placer chromite, and laterite deposits. Most of the world's resources, however, are located in...
Authors
Ruth Schulte

Mineral Resource of the Month: Lime Mineral Resource of the Month: Lime

Lime is the common term for several chemicals in three major categories: quicklime, hydrated lime and refractory dead-burned dolomite. Lime is almost never found naturally. It is primarily manufactured by burning limestone in kilns, followed by hydration when necessary.
Authors
Lisa A. Corathers

Mineral resource of the month: Pumice and pumicite Mineral resource of the month: Pumice and pumicite

Pumice is an extrusive igneous volcanic rock formed through the rapid cooling of air-pocketed lava, which results in a low-density, high-porosity rock. Fine-grained pumice, or pumicite, is defined as minute grains, flakes, threads or shards of volcanic glass, with a size finer than 4 millimeters.
Authors
Robert Crangle

Mineral resource of the month: silver Mineral resource of the month: silver

Silver, one of the eight precious or noble metals, has been used extensively throughout recorded history for various medical purposes, ornaments and utensils, and for its intrinsic value as the basis for trade and monetary systems. Silver has played a significant role in world history, financing a Greek victory over the Persians in 480 B.C., helping Spain become a world power in the 16th...
Authors
Florence C. Katrivanos

Mineral Resource of the Month: Antimony Mineral Resource of the Month: Antimony

Antimony is a lustrous silvery-white semimetal or metalloid. Archaeological and historical studies indicate that antimony and its mineral sulfides have been used by humans for at least six millennia. The alchemist Basil Valentine is sometimes credited with “discovering” the element; he described the extraction of metallic antimony from stibnite in his treatise “The Triumphal Chariot of...
Authors
David E. Guberman

Mineral resource of the month: Mica Mineral resource of the month: Mica

The mica mineral group includes 34 phyllosilicate minerals, all with a layered, platy texture. The mineral has been known for millennia: Mica was first mined in India about 4,000 years ago, where it was used primarily in medicines. The Mayans used it for decorative effect in stucco to make their temples sparkle in the sun. Today it is used in everything from electrical products to...
Authors
Jason C. Willett

Mineral resource of the month: vermiculite Mineral resource of the month: vermiculite

Vermiculite comprises a group of hydrated, laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate minerals resembling mica. They are secondary minerals, typically altered biotite, iron-rich phlogopite or other micas or clay-like minerals that are themselves sometimes alteration products of amphibole, chlorite, olivine and pyroxene. Vermiculite deposits are associated with volcanic ultramafic rocks...
Authors
Arnold O. Tanner

Mineral resource of the month: Vermiculite Mineral resource of the month: Vermiculite

Vermiculite comprises a group of hydrated, laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate minerals resembling mica. They are secondary minerals, typically altered biotite, iron-rich phlogopite or other micas or clay-like minerals that are themselves sometimes alteration products of amphibole, chlorite, olivine and pyroxene. Vermiculite deposits are associated with volcanic ultramafic rocks...
Authors
Arnold O. Tanner

Mineral resource of the month: Arsenic Mineral resource of the month: Arsenic

Arsenic is a gray metal rarely encountered as a free element, but is widely distributed in minerals and ores that contain copper, iron and lead. Arsenic is often found in groundwater as a result of the natural weathering of rock and soil.
Authors
George M. Bedinger

Mineral Resource of the Month: Niobium Mineral Resource of the Month: Niobium

Niobium, also called columbium, is a transition metal with a very high melting point. It is in greatest demand in industrialized countries, like the United States, because of its defense-related uses in the aerospace, energy and transportation industries. Niobium is used mostly to make high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel and stainless steel. HSLA steels are used in large-diameter pipes...
Authors
John F. Papp

Related

Below are publications associated with this project.

Filter Total Items: 140

Mineral resource of the month: Garnet Mineral resource of the month: Garnet

Garnet is the general name given to a group of complex silicate minerals, all with isometric crystal structure and similar properties and chemical composition. The most common garnet minerals are classified into three groups: the aluminum-garnet group, the chromium-garnet group and the iron-garnet group. Worldwide, garnet resources are large and occur in a wide variety of rocks...
Authors
Kenneth C. Curry

Mineral resource of the month: Chromium Mineral resource of the month: Chromium

Although chromium is a metal, it does not occur naturally in metallic form. Chromium can be found in many minerals, but the only economically significant chromium-bearing mineral is chromite. Chromite has been mined from four different deposit types: stratiform chromite, podiform chromite, placer chromite, and laterite deposits. Most of the world's resources, however, are located in...
Authors
Ruth Schulte

Mineral Resource of the Month: Lime Mineral Resource of the Month: Lime

Lime is the common term for several chemicals in three major categories: quicklime, hydrated lime and refractory dead-burned dolomite. Lime is almost never found naturally. It is primarily manufactured by burning limestone in kilns, followed by hydration when necessary.
Authors
Lisa A. Corathers

Mineral resource of the month: Pumice and pumicite Mineral resource of the month: Pumice and pumicite

Pumice is an extrusive igneous volcanic rock formed through the rapid cooling of air-pocketed lava, which results in a low-density, high-porosity rock. Fine-grained pumice, or pumicite, is defined as minute grains, flakes, threads or shards of volcanic glass, with a size finer than 4 millimeters.
Authors
Robert Crangle

Mineral resource of the month: silver Mineral resource of the month: silver

Silver, one of the eight precious or noble metals, has been used extensively throughout recorded history for various medical purposes, ornaments and utensils, and for its intrinsic value as the basis for trade and monetary systems. Silver has played a significant role in world history, financing a Greek victory over the Persians in 480 B.C., helping Spain become a world power in the 16th...
Authors
Florence C. Katrivanos

Mineral Resource of the Month: Antimony Mineral Resource of the Month: Antimony

Antimony is a lustrous silvery-white semimetal or metalloid. Archaeological and historical studies indicate that antimony and its mineral sulfides have been used by humans for at least six millennia. The alchemist Basil Valentine is sometimes credited with “discovering” the element; he described the extraction of metallic antimony from stibnite in his treatise “The Triumphal Chariot of...
Authors
David E. Guberman

Mineral resource of the month: Mica Mineral resource of the month: Mica

The mica mineral group includes 34 phyllosilicate minerals, all with a layered, platy texture. The mineral has been known for millennia: Mica was first mined in India about 4,000 years ago, where it was used primarily in medicines. The Mayans used it for decorative effect in stucco to make their temples sparkle in the sun. Today it is used in everything from electrical products to...
Authors
Jason C. Willett

Mineral resource of the month: vermiculite Mineral resource of the month: vermiculite

Vermiculite comprises a group of hydrated, laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate minerals resembling mica. They are secondary minerals, typically altered biotite, iron-rich phlogopite or other micas or clay-like minerals that are themselves sometimes alteration products of amphibole, chlorite, olivine and pyroxene. Vermiculite deposits are associated with volcanic ultramafic rocks...
Authors
Arnold O. Tanner

Mineral resource of the month: Vermiculite Mineral resource of the month: Vermiculite

Vermiculite comprises a group of hydrated, laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate minerals resembling mica. They are secondary minerals, typically altered biotite, iron-rich phlogopite or other micas or clay-like minerals that are themselves sometimes alteration products of amphibole, chlorite, olivine and pyroxene. Vermiculite deposits are associated with volcanic ultramafic rocks...
Authors
Arnold O. Tanner

Mineral resource of the month: Arsenic Mineral resource of the month: Arsenic

Arsenic is a gray metal rarely encountered as a free element, but is widely distributed in minerals and ores that contain copper, iron and lead. Arsenic is often found in groundwater as a result of the natural weathering of rock and soil.
Authors
George M. Bedinger

Mineral Resource of the Month: Niobium Mineral Resource of the Month: Niobium

Niobium, also called columbium, is a transition metal with a very high melting point. It is in greatest demand in industrialized countries, like the United States, because of its defense-related uses in the aerospace, energy and transportation industries. Niobium is used mostly to make high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel and stainless steel. HSLA steels are used in large-diameter pipes...
Authors
John F. Papp