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Mineral operations outside the United States

Frequently anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   U.S. Geological Survey, 2010, Mineral operations outside the United States: Geological Survey (U.S.), Reston, Virginia.

   Online Links:

   • <http://mrdata.usgs.gov/mineral-operations/>

   Other_Citation_Details: Compilation from five previous publications

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -178.69

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: 178.39

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 78.2

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: -54.114

3. What does it look like?

   <http://mrdata.usgs.gov/mineral-operations/minfac.png> (PNG)

   Mineral operation locations, (540 x 270 pixels)

4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Beginning_Date: 2006

   Ending_Date: 2010

   Currentness_Reference:

   Publication dates of the databases contributing to this compilation

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Point data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • Entity point (6478)

   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitude and longitude values are specified in decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is World Geodetic System 1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS 84.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   minfac.dbf

   (Source: USGS)

   position

   position.

   Unique identifying number corresponding to label on map published as Open-File Report 20010-1254. Also used in Notes field as an identifier for other operations when capacities are combined. Please note that closed facilities are not included in this rep. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	1727
   Resolution:	1

   rec_id

   Record ID.

   Record identifier without further scientific significance. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	6620
   Resolution:	1

   year

   Currentness year.

   The year for which the facility capacity and activity status is valid, derived from the Minerals Yearbook. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	2003
   Maximum:	2008
   Resolution:	1

   country

   Country.

   The country in which the facility is located. Textual values of no more than 24 characters.

   commodity

   Commodity.

   The material mined or processed at the site. Textual values of no more than 64 characters.

   location

   Location.

   Description of the geographical location or vicinity of the facility or operation. Textual values of no more than 168 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 998 records have no value for location.

   fac_name

   Facility name.

   Name given to a mine or processing plant that distinguishes it from others owned by the same facility. It may be the name of the facility given to it by the company or by others in the industry, or it may be the name of the nearest city or province, or a. Textual values of no more than 144 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 1624 records have no value for fac_name.

   fac_type

   Facility type.

   The type of operation which may be a mine, an oil or gas field, or one of several kinds of processing plants. Textual values of no more than 32 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 141 records have no value for fac_type.

   dmslat

   Latitude (DMS).

   Angular distance measured on a meridian north or south from the equator, measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Textual values of no more than 12 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 1 records have no value for dmslat.

   dmslong

   Longitude (DMS).

   Angular distance between the plane of a meridian east or west from the plane of the meridian of Greenwich, measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Textual values of no more than 12 characters.

   latitude

   Latitude.

   Angular distance measured on a meridian north or south from the equator, measured in decimal degrees. Real numbers stored in double precision.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-54.114
   Maximum:	78.2

   longitude

   Longitude.

   Angular distance between the plane of a meridian east or west from the plane of the meridian of Greenwich, measured in decimal degrees. Real numbers stored in double precision.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-178.69
   Maximum:	178.39

   precision

   Location precision.

   Relative precision of coordinates to an exact facility. Textual values of no more than 4 characters.

   mm

   Mining method.

   The method of mining used by the operation if it is considered to be a mine. Textual values of no more than 4 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 4703 records have no value for mm.

   op_comp

   Operating company.

   The principal company operating at the site. Textual values of no more than 254 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 576 records have no value for op_comp.

   maininvest

   Main investors.

   The primary shareholders or partners in the operating company or the mineral extraction and (or) processing venture. Textual values of no more than 176 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 4927 records have no value for maininvest.

   othinvest

   Other investors.

   The secondary investors and shareholders of the operating company or the mineral extraction and (or) processing venture. Textual values of no more than 254 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 6172 records have no value for othinvest.

   status

   Operational status.

   An indicator of whether an operation was producing during the year listed. Closed facilities are not included in this report. Textual values of no more than 20 characters.

   capacity

   Operating capacity.

   The amount of a commodity that is possible to produce at the facility. Textual values of no more than 12 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 10 records have no value for capacity.

   units

   Capacity units.

   The unit of measurement for the facility’s capacity. Textual values of no more than 44 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 334 records have no value for units.

   notes

   Notes.

   Additional information about the record that users should be aware of (mostly refers to combined facility production capacities). Textual values of no more than 128 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 4239 records have no value for notes.

   cite

   USGS Report.

   USGS report in which this record was provided, a numeric value linking to the Mineral Resource Online Data Catalog. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	847
   Maximum:	851
   Resolution:	1

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • U.S. Geological Survey

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

Why was the data set created?

National Minerals Information Center makes available a wide variety of commodity statistics and other mineral resource supply and production information both within the United States and internationally. These databases complement aggregate commodity statistics collected by the NMIC.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   USGS OFR 2006-1135 (source 1 of 5)

   Eros, J. M., and Candelario-Quintana, Luissette, 2006, Mineral facilities of Africa and the Middle East: Open-File Report 2006-1135, Geological Survey (U.S.), Reston, Virginia.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1135/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: digital data

   Source_Contribution: Mineral facilities of Africa and the Middle East

   USGS OFR 2006-1375 (source 2 of 5)

   Bernstein, Rachel, Eros, J. M., and Quinatana-Velazquez, Meliany, 2006, Mineral facilities of Latin America and Canada: Open-File Report 2006-1375, Geological Survey (U.S.), Reston, Virginia.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1375/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: digital data

   Source_Contribution: Mineral facilities of Latin America and Canada

   USGS OFR 2010-1254 (source 3 of 5)

   Baker, Michael S., Elias, Nurudeen, Guzman, Eric, and Soto-Viruet, Yadira, 2010, Mineral facilities of Asia and the Pacific: Open-File Report 2010-1254.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1254/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: digital data

   Source_Contribution: Mineral facilities of Asia and the southeast Pacific

   USGS OFR 2010-1255 (source 4 of 5)

   Baker, Michael S., Elias, Nurudeen, Guzman, Eric, and Soto-Viruet, Yadira, 2010, Mineral facilities of Northern and Central Eurasia: Open-File Report 2010-1255.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1255/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: digital data

   Source_Contribution: Mineral facilities of northern and central Eurasia

   USGS OFR 2010-1257 (source 5 of 5)

   Almanzar, Francisco, Baker, Michael S., Elias, Nurudeen, and Guzman, Eric, 2010, Mineral facilities of Europe: Open-File Report 2010-1257.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1257/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: digital data

   Source_Contribution: European mineral facilities

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: Dec-2010 (process 1 of 1)

   Databases produced by the National Minerals Information Center were combined compatibly, adding a field to indicate the source publication from which they were drawn.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Peter N Schweitzer
   USGS ER GD
   Geologist
   12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
   Reston, VA 20192-0002
   USA
   

   703-648-6533 (voice)
   703-648-6252 (FAX)
   pschweitzer@usgs.gov
   

   Data sources used in this process:

   • USGS OFR 2006-1135
   • USGS OFR 2006-1375
   • USGS OFR 2010-1254
   • USGS OFR 2010-1255
   • USGS OFR 2010-1257

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

1. How well have the observations been checked?

   Information in these databases comes from industry surveys and literature. While the figures and characteristics are generally judged to be plausible, they may be incorrect in fine detail due to errors in the original sources.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

   The following fields contain missing values; the number after the field label is the number of records for which that field is empty. Other fields are populated for all records.

    location      998
    fac_name     1624
    fac_type      141
    dmslat        793
    dmslong       792
    mm           5224
    op_comp       576
    maininvest   4927
    othinvest    6172
    capacity       10
    units         334
    notes        4239
   

5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

   Most of these data were compiled by the same small group of authors. Information from the first two reports was published several years before the three most recent reports, so there might be discrepancies among the reports due to the time elapsed between publications.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: none

Use_Constraints: none

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   Peter N Schweitzer
   USGS ER GD
   Geologist
   12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
   Reston, VA 20192-0002
   USA
   

   703-648-6533 (voice)
   703-648-6252 (FAX)
   pschweitzer@usgs.gov
   

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   Mineral operations outside the US

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards (or with the North American Stratigraphic Code). Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	Mineral operation locations and characteristics in format Shapefile (version 1.0)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/mineral-operations/minfac.zip>

     Data format:	Mineral operation locations and characteristics in format WMS (version 1.1.1)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/minfac?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS&version=1.1.1>

     Data format:	Mineral operation locations and characteristics in format WFS (version 1.0.0)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/minfac?request=GetCapabilities&service=WFS&version=1.0.0>

   • Cost to order the data: none

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 14-Dec-2010

Metadata author:

Schweitzer, Peter, N
Eastern Mineral Resources Team
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Mail Stop 954
Reston, VA 20192
USA

703-648-6533 (voice)
pschweitzer@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)