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Rare earth element mines, deposits, and occurrences

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?

   Orris, Greta J., and Grauch, Richard I., 2002, Rare earth element mines, deposits, and occurrences: Open-File Report 02-189, Geological Survey (U.S.), Reston, Virginia.

   Online Links:

   • <http://mrdata.usgs.gov/ree/>
   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-189/>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -166.5

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: 175.8667

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 71

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: -41.1

3. What does it look like?

   <http://mrdata.usgs.gov/ree/of02-189.png> (PNG)

   Simplified map showing global distribution of REE deposits, (540 x 270 pixels)

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

   Calendar_Date: 2002

   Currentness_Reference: publication date

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

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 (577)

   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?

   main

   Site description

   rec_id

   Record ID.

   Numeric record identifier without scientific significance. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	799
   Resolution:	1

   deptype

   Deposit type.

   General category of mineral deposit. Textual values of no more than 10 characters.

   Value	Definition
   carb	Carbonatite
   carb-re	Carbonatite with residual enrichment
   alk-ig	Alkalic igneous
   hyd-feox	Hydrothermal Fe-oxide
   oth-ig-aff	Other igneous-affiliated (including pegmatites and veins)
   ion-ad	Ion adsorption
   met	Metamorphic
   placer-sh	Placer, shoreline
   placer-al	Placer, alluvial
   placer-unc	Placer, uncertain origin
   placer-pal	Placer, paleoplacer
   phos	Phosphorite
   oth-baux	Other, Bauxite- or laterite-hosted
   oth-f	Other, F deposits
   oth-pb	Other, Pb deposits
   oth-u	Other, Uranium deposits
   oth-unc	Other, uncertain

   depname

   Site name.

   Name of the location, deposit, or mine. Textual values of no more than 89 characters.

   country

   Country.

   Country. Textual values of no more than 20 characters.

   stprov

   State or Province.

   State or province. Textual values of no more than 39 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 252 records have no value for stprov.

   lat_dms

   Latitude (DMS).

   Latitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds, written like 39-48N. Textual values of no more than 16 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 222 records have no value for lat_dms.

   lon_dms

   Longitude (DMS).

   Longitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds, written like 77-24W. Textual values of no more than 18 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 222 records have no value for lon_dms.

   status

   Site status.

   Development status (mine, deposit, occurrence) possibly indicating activity. Textual values of no more than 60 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 188 records have no value for status.

   age_info

   Geologic age.

   Geologic age estimates derived from radiometric dating. Textual values of no more than 88 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 441 records have no value for age_info.

   company

   Company.

   Name of company owning the property. Textual values of no more than 70 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 632 records have no value for company.

   comments

   Comments.

   Comments explaining descriptive fields. Textual values of no more than 273 characters.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 317 records have no value for comments.

   latitude

   Geographic latitude.

   Geographic latitude in decimal degrees WGS84 calculated from lat_dms, south values negative. Real numbers stored in double precision.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 222 records have no value for latitude.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-42.233333333333
   Maximum:	71
   Units:	decimal degrees

   longitude

   Geographic longitude.

   Geographic longitude in decimal degrees WGS84 calculated from lon_dms, west values negative. Real numbers stored in double precision.

   Value	Definition
   (no value)	Information not available for this record. 222 records have no value for longitude.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-166.5
   Maximum:	175.86666666667
   Units:	decimal degrees

   minerals

   Minerals present at the site

   rec_id

   Record ID.

   Record ID, a value of main:rec_id. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	799
   Resolution:	1

   role

   Role of mineral.

   Role of mineral: REE-bearing, other ore, or gangue. Textual values of no more than 8 characters.

   abbr

   Abbreviation.

   Abbreviation used by the original authors to shorten the texts. Textual values of no more than 38 characters.

   name

   Mineral name.

   Mineral name derived from tables 2 and 3 of the report and some educated guesswork. Textual values of no more than 38 characters.

   hostrock

   Bibliography

   rec_id

   Record ID.

   Record ID, a value of main:rec_id. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	799
   Resolution:	1

   value

   Lithology.

   Lithology terms (not controlled). Textual values of no more than 100 characters.

   resource

   Resource estimates

   rec_id

   Record ID.

   Record ID, a value of main:rec_id. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	799
   Resolution:	1

   value

   Tonnage and grades.

   Tonnage and grades of commodity oxides, sometimes including year for which those estimates were given. Textual values of no more than 100 characters.

   reflink

   Reference links, an associative table linking deposits with references one to many

   rec_id

   Record ID.

   Record ID, a value of main:rec_id. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	799
   Resolution:	1

   role

   Information provided.

   Subject for which the reference was applicable: location, resources, or general. Textual values of no more than 8 characters.

   reflink

   Short reference.

   Short reference like Woolley, 2001, links to bib:reflink. Textual values of no more than 140 characters.

   bib

   Bibliography

   ref_id

   Reference ID.

   Reference ID, a unique identifier of this reference. Integer values. Int of width 4.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	260
   Resolution:	1

   reflink

   Short reference.

   Short reference like Woolley, 2001, links to ref:reflink. Textual values of no more than 64 characters.

   reference

   Bibliographic citation.

   Bibliographic citation, generally in standard USGS format. Textual values of no more than 663 characters.

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Orris, Greta J.
   • Grauch, Richard I.

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Greta J Orris
   U.S. Geological Survey
   520 N. Park Avenue
   Tucson, AZ 85719-5035
   USA
   

   520-670-5583 (voice)
   greta@usgs.gov
   

Why was the data set created?

This dataset was compiled for the University of Arizona's Center for Mineral Resources Rare Earth monograph, a summary document intended to reflect our current knowledge of the geology and mineral economics of the rare earths, including yttrium.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   Harvey and others, 2002 (source 1 of 1)

   Harvey, S.E., Young, I., and Billingsley, G., 2002, Geology of the Hoidas Lake area, Ena Domain, northwestern Saskatchewan:.

   Online Links:

   • <http://er.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/adxGetMedia.aspx?DocID=11830,11827,11458,11455,11228,3385,5460,2936,Documents&MediaID=36540&Filename=harvey.pdf>

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Survey, Saskatchewan Geological , 2002, Summary of Investigations 2002, Volume 2: Saskatchewan Industry Resources, Miscellaneous Report 2002-4.2.

   Other_Citation_Details: CD-ROM, Paper C-2, 13p

   Type_of_Source_Media: digital file, online

   Source_Contribution: Corrected point location for record 299

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

   Date: 2001 (process 1 of 4)

   Data were separated into various fields (categories) within the Excel spreadsheet.

   Date: 30-Nov-2010 (process 2 of 4)

   Data reorganized in relational form for distribution through the USGS Mineral Resources Online Data Catalog

   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
   

   Date: 10-Nov-2011 (process 3 of 4)

   Corrected locations of records 707, 747, and 750 at the suggestion of Robert Callaghan. Those point locations were obviously erroneous. Revised locations were drawn from matching these records with the corresponding records in MRDS, and using the coordinates from MRDS.

   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
   

   Date: 14-Nov-2011 (process 4 of 4)

   Corrected location of record 299 at the suggestion of Robert Callaghan. That point location was obviously erroneous. Revised location was chosen as the location given for geochemical samples of the Jak zone in the <http://er.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/adxGetMedia.aspx?DocID=11830,11827,11458,11455,11228,3385,5460,2936,Documents&MediaID=36540&Filename=harvey.pdf>

   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:

   • Harvey and others, 2002

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?

   The accuracy of file data attributes is highly variable, especially for some parts of Africa and Asia. Most locations are believed to be within 2-5 minutes of the exact location; some locations are for the nearest town, and other locations are of undetermined accuracy. Location errors are a result of inadequate or incorrect original data, error caused by multiple locations with the same name, and error introduced by data entry or location format conversion. The data tables were spot-checked against the original data.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   The latitudes and longitudes were largely taken from Published data or determined from descriptions of the location using the maps available to us or internet-based gazeteers such as the GEOnet Names server on the National Imagery and Mapping Agency's database. The accuracy of these locations varies with the detail of the original information.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

   This report is the most complete compilation of rare earth mines, deposits, and occurrences known. However, it is highly likely that there are additional occurrences of rare earths that are not included. In addition, data for many of the sites are incomplete. Determination of latitudes and longitudes for some sites were impossible given the available data.

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

   Point data are given in degrees and minutes.

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)
   USGS Information Services
   Box 25286, Denver Federal Center
   Denver, Colorado 80255-0046
   USA
   

   1-888-ASK-USGS (voice)
   1-303-202-4695 (FAX)
   infoservices@usgs.gov
   

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

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:	Deposit locations with geologic and economic characteristics in format Shapefile (version 1.0)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/ree/ree.zip>

     Data format:	Deposit locations with geological and economic characteristics in format WMS (version 1.1.1)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/ree?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS&version=1.1.1>

     Data format:	Deposit locations with geological and economic characteristics in format WFS (version 1.0.0)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/ree?request=GetCapabilities&service=WFS&version=1.0.0>

   • Cost to order the data: none

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 10-Nov-2011

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)