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At least 685 records · Page 38Linked to original sources
USGS1950

Mineral resources of Colombia (other than petroleum)

The following report summarizes data acquired during 1942-45, in Colombia, by geologists and engineers of the Foreign Economic Administration, with whom the United States Geological Survey cooperated. Twenty-nine mineral commodities are considered, but the data for five of them are scant because they were of no interest to FEA personnel. Petroleum is not considered. Preliminary to a review of individual mineral commodities, resumes are given of the general geography and geology of Colombia and of the country's mining laws. The principal mineral commodities, besides petroleum, produced in Colombia are (1) emeralds, gold, platinum, and silver, mainly for export, and (2) barite, cement, clay, coal, gypsum, salt, sand and gravel, silica, and stone, mainly for the domestic market. A large number of other mineral commodities are known in "raw" prospects, some of which may eventually become productive. Their distribution and apparent potentialities, as of 1945, are given. Factors unfavorable to mining are the ruggedness of the terrain, the scarcity of outcrops, and the very high transportation costs.

Bulletin↗
USGS1983

Mineral resource potential map of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Study Area, Huerfano and Las Animas counties, Colorado

A geologic and geochemical investigation and a survey of mines and prospects have been conducted to evaluate the mineral resource potential of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Study Area, Huerfano and Las Animas Counties, in south-central Colorado. The·study area is underlain by sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic to Tertiary age (Johnson, 1969). Stocks and dikes were emplaced between 20 and 25 m.y. ago (Smith, 1979) forming East and West Spanish Peaks and the White Peaks. Most of the study area lacks significant geochemical anomalies and has a low mineral potential. Anomalous concentrations of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the rocks and drainage basins in the vicinity of the old mines and prospects on West Spanish Peak indicate a moderate potential for small mineralized veins in this area. Ore-bearing veinlets have been worked in the past, primarily for silver and lead; however, the sparsity, small size, and low grade of the veins diminish their significance. The depth of several thousand feet at which coal may underlie the surface rocks of the study area makes it a resource with little likelihood of development. The potential for oil and gas appears low because of the apparent lack of structural traps and the intense igneous activity in the area.

Colorado↗
USGS2000

U. S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande basin study: Proceedings of the Fourth annual workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 15-16, 2000

This volume contains a collection of short papers that document some of the conclusions and results of on-going investigations related to ground-water resources of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico. These results, and additional project reports, were presented at the Fourth Annual Middle Rio Grande Basin workshop convened in Albuquerque during February 2000. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey and the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources as a forum for public presentation and discussion of multidisciplinary studies conducted during the previous 4 years. This considerable body of work was undertaken to improve the scientific understanding of factors that control ground-water availability and quality, and to explore land-surface characteristics that have affected the development and use of this valley that currently supports a population in excess of 600,000.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Chemical analyses of coal, coal-associated rocks and coal combustion products collected for the National Coal Quality Inventory

In 1999, the USGS initiated the National Coal Quality Inventory (NaCQI) project to address a need for quality information on coals that will be mined during the next 20-30 years. At the time this project was initiated, the publicly available USGS coal quality data was based on samples primarily collected and analyzed between 1973 and 1985. The primary objective of NaCQI was to create a database containing comprehensive, accurate and accessible chemical information on the quality of mined and prepared United States coals and their combustion byproducts. This objective was to be accomplished through maintaining the existing publicly available coal quality database, expanding the database through the acquisition of new samples from priority areas, and analysis of the samples using updated coal analytical chemistry procedures. Priorities for sampling include those areas where future sources of compliance coal are federally owned. This project was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State geological surveys, universities, coal burning utilities, and the coal mining industry. Funding support came from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Open-File Report↗
USGS2007

Preliminary non-fuel mineral resource assessment of Afghanistan 2007

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperated with the Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS) of the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines to assess the undiscovered non-fuel mineral resources of Afghanistan between 2006 and 2007. This report presents the results of this work and contains chapters describing and assessing the mineral resources of Afghanistan. An accompanying Geographical Information System (GIS) is an accompanying disk that includes supporting data. Funding for this effort was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Open-File Report↗
USGS2014

Methow River Studies, Washington: abundance estimates from Beaver Creek and the Chewuch River screw trap, methodology testing in the Whitefish Island side channel, and survival and detection estimates from hatchery fish releases, 2013

Salmon and steelhead populations have been severely depleted in the Columbia River from factors such as the presence of tributary dams, unscreened irrigation diversions, and habitat degradation from logging, mining, grazing, and others (Raymond, 1988). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been funded by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to provide evaluation of on-going Reclamation funded efforts to recover Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed anadromous salmonid populations in the Methow River watershed, a watershed of the Columbia River in the Upper Columbia River Basin, in north-central Washington State (fig. 1). This monitoring and evaluation program was funded to document Reclamation’s effort to partially fulfill the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (BiOp) (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries Division 2003). This Biological Opinion includes Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPA) to protect listed salmon and steelhead across their life cycle. Species of concern in the Methow River include Upper Columbia River (UCR) spring Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), UCR summer steelhead ( O. mykiss ), and bull trout ( Salvelinus confluentus ), which are all listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The work done by the USGS since 2004 has encompassed three phases of work. The first phase started in 2004 and continued through 2012. This first phase involved the evaluation of stream colonization and fish production in Beaver Creek following the modification of several water diversions (2000–2006) that were acting as barriers to upstream fish movement. Products to date from this work include: Ruttenburg (2007), Connolly and others (2008), Martens and Connolly (2008), Connolly (2010), Connolly and others (2010), Martens and Connolly (2010), Benjamin and others (2012), Romine and others (2013a), Weigel and others (2013a, 2013b, 2013c), and Martens and others (2014). The second phase, initiated in 2008, focuses on the evaluation of the M2 reach (rkm 66– 80) of the mainstem Methow River prior to restoration actions planned by Reclamation and Yakama Nation. The M2 study was designed to help understand the inter-relationships between stream habitat and the life history of various fish species to explain potential success or limitations in response to restoration actions. To help document changes derived by restoration, two reference reaches (Upper Methow between rkm 85 and 90, and Chewuch River between rkm 4 and 11) were identified based on relative lack of disturbance, proximity to the restoration reach, and relative unconfined geomorphology. A control reach (Lower Methow between rkm 57 and 64, also referred to as “Silver Reach”) was 2 identified based on its similar disturbance as the reference reach, proximity to the restoration reach, and relatively unconfined geomorphology. Products to date include Barber and others (2011), Bellmore (2011), Tibbits and others (2012), Bellmore and others (2013), Benjamin and others (2013), Romine and others (2013b), Bellmore and other (2014), Martens and others (2014), and Martens and Connolly (2014). The third phase of work has been to help with the development and to provide data for modeling efforts. Most of the planned M2 reach restoration is focused on the creation or improvement of offchannel habitat, especially side channels. The pre-restoration portion of this study has been documented by Martens and Connolly (2014). Side channel restoration actions were initiated in 2012 (Whitefish Island side channel, also referred to as SC3; rkm 76) and are planned to continue over the next several years. The Whitefish Island side channel was modified to maintain hydrological connection with the mainstem throughout the year. In addition, several log structures were installed and pools were deepened to create fish habitat. Prior to restoration, this side channel would lose hydrological connection with the mainstem Methow River, leaving one large pool near the bottom of the side channel and several shallow isolated pools that may or may not go dry. In seasonally connected side channels, juvenile salmonid survival in pools less than 100 cm average depth was lower than in pools greater than 100 cm average depth (Martens and Connolly, 2014). In this report, we document our field work and analysis completed in 2013. During 2013, USGS sampling efforts were focused on resampling of three reaches in Beaver Creek, testing methodology in the Whitefish Island side channel, conducting hatchery survival estimates, and operating a screw trap on the Chewuch River (funded by Yakama Nation; fig. 1). The Beaver Creek sampling effort was a revisit of three index sites sampled continuously from 2004 to 2007 to look at the fish response to barrier removal. Methodology testing in Whitefish Island side channel was done to determine the best method for evaluating fish populations after restoration efforts in side channels (previous sampling methods were determined to be ineffective after pools were deepened). Hatchery survival estimates were completed to monitor fish survival in the Methow and Columbia Rivers, while the screw trap was operated to estimate migrating fish populations in the Chewuch River and track passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tagged fish. In addition, we maintained a network of PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTIS), assisted Reclamation with fish removal events associated with stream restoration (two people for 9 days; 14 percent of summer field season), and conducted a stream metabolism study designed to help parameterize and calibrate the stream productivity model (Bellmore and others, 2014) with model validation.

Washington↗
USGS2015

Multi-elemental analysis of aqueous geochemical samples by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Typically, quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is used to determine as many as 57 major, minor, and trace elements in aqueous geochemical samples, including natural surface water and groundwater, acid mine drainage water, and extracts or leachates from geological samples. The sample solution is aspirated into the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) which is an electrodeless discharge of ionized argon gas at a temperature of approximately 6,000 degrees Celsius. The elements in the sample solution are subsequently volatilized, atomized, and ionized by the ICP. The ions generated are then focused and introduced into a quadrupole mass filter which only allows one mass to reach the detector at a given moment in time. As the settings of the mass analyzer change, subsequent masses are allowed to impact the detector. Although the typical quadrupole ICP-MS system is a sequential scanning instrument (determining each mass separately), the scan speed of modern instruments is on the order of several thousand masses per second. Consequently, typical total sample analysis times of 2–3 minutes are readily achievable for up to 57 elements.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1991

Review of water demand and water utilization studies for the Provo River drainage basin, and review of a study of the effects of the proposed Jordanelle Reservoir on seepage to underground mines, Bonneville unit of the central Utah project

Problem: Questions have been raised concerning the adequacy of available water to fulfill the needs of storage, exchanges, diversions, and instream flows, pursuant to existing water rights in the Provo River drainage basin part of the Bonneville Unit. Also, concern has been expressed about the potential for seepage of water from Jordanelle Reservoir to underground mines. The Utah Congressional Delegation requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) review the results of analyses performed by and for the USBR. Purpose and Scope: The purpose of this report is to present the results of the USGS review of (1) the hydrologic data, techniques, and model used by the USBR in their hydrologic analyses of the Provo River drainage basin and (2) the results of a study of the potential for seepage from the Jordanelle Reservoir to nearby underground mines. The USGS reviewed USBR-supplied water demands, water utilization studies, and models of seepage from Jordanelle Reservoir. The USBR estimated that about 90 percent of the water supply for Jordanelle Reservoir will be water from Strawberry Reservoir exchanged for water from the Provo River stored in Utah Lake. If the Utah State Engineer allows the USBR to claim an estimated 19,700 acre-feet of return flows from the CUP, only about 77 percent of the supply would be derived from exchange of existing water rights in Utah Lake. The USGS assumed that planned importations of water from the Uinta Basin will be available and deliverable to fulfill the proposed exchanges. Water rights and demands are important for determining water availability. The USGS did not conduct an independent review of water rights and demands. The USSR and Utah Division of Water Rights use different methods in some areas for determining stress on the system based on past records. The USSR used "historical observed diversions" and the Utah Division of Water Rights use "diversion entitlements", which may not be equal to the historical diversions. The USGS based its review upon water demands used by the USSR. The Utah Division of Water Rights has responsibility for granting and enforcing water rights, and the final decisions on how the rights will be adjudicated lies with the Utah Division of Water Rights and with the courts. The USGS review did not consider the draft water distribution plan for the Utah Lake drainage basin proposed by the Utah State Engineer (written commun., October 15,1991). This plan, when finalized, may have an effect on water availability to the CUP.

Utah↗
USGS1997

Coal availability in the Hilight Quadrangle, Powder River Basin, Wyoming; a prototype study in a western coal field

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Geological Survey of Wyoming, and U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), has produced an estimate of the amount of available coal in an area about 35 miles south of Gillette, Wyo., where the Wyodak coal bed is, in places, more than 100 ft thick. Available coal is the quantity of the total coal resource that is accessible for mine development under current regulatory, land-use, and technologic constraints. This first western coal availability study, of the Hilight 7 1/2-minute quadrangle, indicates that approximately 60 percent (2.7 billion short tons) of the total 4.4 billion tons of coal in-place in the quadrangle is available for development. (There has been no commercial mining in the Hilight quadrangle.) Approximately 67 percent (1.9 billion tons) of the Main Wyodak coal bed is considered available. All tonnage measurements in this report are given in short tons. Coal-development considerations in the quadrangle include dwellings, railroads, pipelines, power lines, wildlife habitat (eagles), alluvial valley floors, cemeteries, and the Hilight oil and gas field and gas plant. Some of these considerations could be mitigated so that surface mining of the coal may proceed; others could not be mitigated and would preclude mining in their vicinity. Other technological constraints that influence the availability of the coal include overburden thickness, coal beds too thin, and areas of clinker.

Montana, Wyoming↗
USGS1999

Land and mineral ownership coverage for the Uinta Basin, Wasatch Plateau and surrounding areas, northeastern Utah

This Arc/Info coverage contains land status and Federal and State mineral ownership for approximately 25,900 square miles in northeastern Utah. The polygon coverage (which is also provided here as a shapefile) contains three attributes of ownership information for each polygon. One attribute indicates whether the surface is State owned, privately owned, consists of Tribal and Indian lands, or, if Federally owned, which Federal agency manages the land surface. Another attribute indicates where the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) maintains full or partial subsurface mineral rights. The third attribute indicates which energy minerals, if any, are owned by the Federal govenment. This coverage is based on land management status and Federal and State mineral ownership data compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the former U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration at a scale of 1:100,000. This coverage was compiled primarily to serve the USGS National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Project in the Uinta-Piceance Basin Province and the USGS National Coal Resource Assessment Project in the Colorado Plateau.

Utah↗
USGS2014

Hydrogeologic framework of the uppermost principal aquifer systems in the Williston and Powder River structural basins, United States and Canada

The glacial, lower Tertiary, and Upper Cretaceous aquifer systems in the Williston and Powder River structural basins within the United States and Canada are the uppermost principal aquifer systems and most accessible sources of groundwater for these energy-producing basins. The glacial aquifer system covers the northeastern part of the Williston structural basin. The lower Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous aquifer systems are present in about 91,300 square miles (mi 2 ) of the Williston structural basin and about 25,500 mi 2 of the Powder River structural basin. Directly under these aquifer systems are 800 to more than 3,000 feet (ft) of relatively impermeable marine shale that serves as a basal confining unit. The aquifer systems in the Williston structural basin have a shallow (less than 2,900 ft deep), wide, and generally symmetrical bowl shape. The aquifer systems in the Powder River structural basin have a very deep (as much as 8,500 ft deep), narrow, and asymmetrical shape. The Williston structural basin has been an important oil and natural gas producing region since the 1950s, and production has increased substantially since the mid-2000s due to improved drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods from deep formations, such as the Bakken and Three Forks Formations. These improved methods require considerable volumes of freshwater mostly from shallow aquifers or surface water. Coal, lignite, and coal-bed natural gas are additional sources of energy in both basins that can affect the quality and quantity of shallow aquifers through strip mining and groundwater depletion. In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a regional study of the glacial, lower Tertiary, and Upper Cretaceous aquifer systems in the Williston and Powder River structural basins with the goal to quantify groundwater availability. This report, together with a companion report of the conceptual flow model, provides an improved understanding of the groundwater flow systems and a basis for a numerical, regional groundwater-flow model. This study combines the lithostratigraphic units of the glacial, lower Tertiary, and Upper Cretaceous aquifer systems in the United States and Canada into 7 regional hydrogeologic units—glacial deposits, 4 bedrock aquifers, and 2 bedrock confining units—using general hydraulic properties. The glacial deposits are composed of till and glacial outwash sands and gravels with areas of cobbles and boulders. The four bedrock aquifers are the upper Fort Union, lower Fort Union, lower Hell Creek, and Fox Hills aquifers and are contained primarily in sandstone layers. The two confining units are the middle Fort Union hydrogeologic unit (shale) and upper Hell Creek hydrogeologic unit (contains less sandstone than the underlying lower Hell Creek aquifer). Water from hydrogeologic units in these three aquifer systems is relatively fresh and potable, whereas withdrawals seldom occur from units below the basal confining unit because of great depths (greater than 800 ft) and poor water quality. Analysis of about 300 electric (resistivity) and lithologic logs in the Williston structural basin and numerous existing publications for the Powder River structural basin were used to develop a three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework for both basins. Interpolated thicknesses of the glacial deposits, the lower Tertiary aquifer system, and the Upper Cretaceous aquifer system in the Williston structural basin are less than about 750; 2,250; and 1,050 ft, respectively. Interpolated thicknesses of the lower Tertiary aquifer system and the Upper Cretaceous aquifer system in the Powder River structural basin are less than about 7,180 and 5,070 ft, respectively. Interpolated horizontal hydraulic conductivity values for the Williston structural basin were as much as 25 feet per day (ft/d) in the glacial deposits and had smaller ranges in the lower Tertiary aquifer system (0.01–9.8 ft/d) and in the Upper Cretaceous aquifer system (0.06–5.5 ft/d). In the Powder River structural basin, the lower Tertiary aquifer system had a greater range of interpolated horizontal hydraulic conductivity values (0.10–11 ft/d) than the Upper Cretaceous aquifer system (0.02–5.7 ft/d). Transmissivity is greatest in the gravel zones of the glacial deposits (2,120 feet squared per day) and generally decreases with depth into the bedrock units. Regionally, water in the lower Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous aquifer systems flows in a northerly or northeasterly direction from the Powder River structural basin to the Williston structural basin. Groundwater flow in the Williston structural basin generally is easterly or northeasterly. Flow in the uppermost hydrogeologic units generally is more local and controlled by topography where unglaciated in the Williston structural basin than is flow in the glaciated part and in underlying aquifers. Groundwater flow in the Powder River structural basin generally is northerly with local variations greatest in the uppermost aquifers. Groundwater is confined, and flow is regional in the underlying aquifers.

Powder River Basin;Williston Basin↗
USGS2002

Metal concentrations and sources in the Miller Creek watershed, Park County, Montana, August 2000

Miller Creek is a tributary of Soda Butte Creek in south-central Montana near the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. Surface-water and streambed-sediment samples were collected from streams and seeps throughout the Miller Creek watershed during low-flow conditions on August 28-31, 2000, to characterize metal concentrations and identify possible sources contributing metal to Miller Creek. Most water in Miller Creek appears to be unaffected by mining disturbances or natural weathering of mineralized rocks, although such effects are common elsewhere in the New World Mining District. Values for pH were near neutral to basic. Total-recoverable copper, lead, and zinc concentrations were low, relative to State of Montana water-quality standards, with many concentrations less than the analytical minimum reporting levels. Metal concentrations in Miller Creek during this study ranged from 1 to 6 micrograms per liter (?g/L) for total-recoverable copper, <1 to 5 ?g/L for total-recoverable lead, and <1 to 26 ?g/L for total-recoverable zinc. Concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in all samples from Miller Creek were less than the chronic aquatic-life criteria, except for one total-recoverable lead value (5 ?g/L) just downstream from the Black Warrior Mine inflow. Leachable lead and zinc concentrations in streambed-sediment samples collected during this study were highest at the Black Warrior Mine inflow. Leachable concentrations at this site were about 20 times greater for lead and 11 times greater for zinc than concentrations in the streambed-sediment sample collected from Miller Creek upstream from this inflow. However, these elevated concentrations had little effect on the leachable metal concentrations in the streambed-sediment sample collected downstream from the Black Warrior Mine inflow. Metal loading to Miller Creek during this low-flow study was relatively small. Three small left-bank inflows having elevated copper concentrations entered Miller Creek near the middle of the study reach and their combined total-recoverable copper load accounted for about 96 percent of the copper load in Miller Creek. Small loads of lead (about 2 micrograms per second) entered Miller Creek from the Black Warrior Mine inflow and a right bank inflow. None of the loads entering Miller Creek had an appreciable effect on mainstem metal concentrations. In addition, substantial differences between mining related areas and areas influenced by local geology could not be determined.

Montana↗
USGS2009

A deployment of broadband seismic stations in two deep gold mines, South Africa

In-mine seismic networks throughout the TauTona and Mponeng gold mines provide precise locations and seismic source parameters of earthquakes. They also support small-scale experimental projects, including NELSAM (Natural Earthquake Laboratory in South African Mines), which is intended to record, at close hand, seismic rupture of a geologic fault that traverses the project region near the deepest part of TauTona. To resolve some questions regarding the in-mine and NELSAM networks, we deployed four portable broadband seismic stations at deep sites within TauTona and Mponeng for one week during September 2007 and recorded ground acceleration. Moderately large earthquakes within our temporary network were recorded with sufficiently high signal-to-noise that we were able to integrate the acceleration to ground velocity and displacement, from which moment tensors could be determined. We resolved the questions concerning the NELSAM and in-mine networks by using these moment tensors to calculate synthetic seismograms at various network recording sites for comparison with the ground motion recorded at the same locations. We also used the peak velocity of the S wave pulse, corrected for attenuation with distance, to estimate the maximum slip within the rupture zone of an earthquake. We then combined the maximum slip and seismic moment with results from laboratory friction experiments to estimate maximum slip rates within the same high-slip patches of the rupture zone. For the four largest earthquakes recorded within our network, all with magnitudes near 2, these inferred maximum slips range from 4 to 27 mm and the corresponding maximum slip rates range from 1 to 6 m/s. These results, in conjunction with information from previous ground motion studies, indicate that underground support should be capable of withstanding peak ground velocities of at least 5 m/s.

Mponeng gold mine, TauTona gold mine↗
USGS2012

Summary of the reconnaissance investigation of the diamond resource potential and production capacity of Côte d’Ivoire

This study presents the results of a multiyear effort to monitor the diamond mining activities of Côte d’Ivoire’s two main diamond regions, Séguéla and Tortiya. The innovative approach developed for this study integrates archival reports and maps, high-resolution satellite imagery, and terrain modeling to assess the diamond resource potential and production capacity of the Séguéla and Tortiya deposits. A geologic resource assessment was conducted to calculate the remaining diamond reserves for Séguéla and Tortiya using archival geologic data, including gravel grade and thickness recorded by the Ivorian mining company Société pour le Développement Minier (SODEMI). These data were combined with terrain analysis and geomorphological maps in a geological process-driven model. After accounting for previous production, a total of 10,100,000 carats are estimated to be remaining in Séguéla and a total of 1,100,000 carats are estimated to be remaining in Tortiya, based on currently known deposits.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2022

Geoenvironmental model for roll-type uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf Coast

Geoenvironmental models were formulated by the U.S. Geological Survey in the 1990s to describe potential environmental effects of extracting different types of ore deposits in different geologic and climatic regions. This paper presents a geoenvironmental model for roll-front (roll-type) uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain. The model reviews descriptive and quantitative information derived from environmental studies and existing databases to depict existing conditions and potential environmental concerns associated with mining this deposit type. This geoenvironmental model describes how features of the deposits including host rock; ore and gangue mineralogy; geologic, hydrologic, and climatic settings; and mining methods (legacy open-pit and in situ recovery [ISR]) influence potential environmental effects from mining. Element concentrations in soil and water are compared to regulatory thresholds to depict ambient surface water and groundwater conditions. Although most open-pit operations in this region have been reclaimed, concerns remain about groundwater quality at three of the four former mills that supported former open-pit mines and are undergoing closure activities. The primary environmental concerns with ISR mining are (1) radon gas at active ISR operations, (2) radiation or contaminant leakage during production and transport of ISR resin or yellowcake, (3) uranium excursions into groundwater surrounding active ISR operations, and (4) contamination of groundwater after ISR mining. Although existing regulations attempt to address these concerns, some problems remain. Researchers suggest that reactive transport modeling and a better understanding of geology, stratigraphy, and geochemistry of ISR production areas could minimize excursions into surrounding aquifers and improve results of groundwater restoration.

Texas↗
USGS1984

An assessment of cumulative impacts of coal mining on the hydrology in part of the Powder River structural basin, Wyoming: A progress report

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality are involved in a cooperative effort to assess the probable cumulative impacts of coal mining on the hydrology of a part of the Powder River Structural Basin in Wyoming. It was assumed that the principal impacts on the ground-water system due to mining will occur in the relatively shallow aquifers which can be grouped into three homogeneous aquifers, namely, the Wyodak coal, the overburden, and the under burden. Emphasis of this report is on the results of analysis of surface-water resources in the Caballo Creek drainage. A surface-water model of the Caballo Creek drainage was developed using the Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran model to help assess the impacts of mining activities on streamflow. The Caballo Creek drainage was divided into 10 land segments and 6 stream reaches in the modeling process. Three simulation runs show little, if any, change in streamflow between pre- and post-mining conditions and very little change between pre-mining and during-mining conditions. The principal reason for the absence of change is the high infiltration rate used in the model for all three conditions.

Wyoming↗
USGS2015

USGS compilation of geographic information system (GIS) data representing coal mines and coal-bearing areas in China

Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled geographic information system (GIS) data representing the known coal mine locations and coal-mining areas of China as of 2001. These data are now available for download, and may be used in a GIS for a variety of energy resource and environmental studies of China. Province-scale maps were also created to display the point locations of coal mines and the coal-mining areas. In addition, coal-field outlines from a previously published map by Dai and others (2012) were also digitized and are available for download as a separate GIS data file, and shown in a nation-scale map of China. Chemical data for 332 coal samples from a previous USGS study of China and Taiwan (Tewalt and others, 2010) are included in a downloadable GIS point shapefile, and shown on a nation-scale map of China. A brief report summarizes the methodology used for creation of the shapefiles and the chemical analyses run on the samples.

Open-File Report↗