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Mineral Operations of Latin America and Canada

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?

   Bernstein, Rachel, Eros, J.M., and Quinatana-Velazquez, Meliany, 2006, Mineral Operations of Latin America and Canada: Derived from USGS Open-File report 2006-1375, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

   Online Links:

   • <http://mrdata.usgs.gov/>

   This is part of the following larger work.

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

   Online Links:

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

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -130.4500

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -35.2167

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 73.0500

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: -54.1444

3. What does it look like?

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

   Beginning_Date: 2003

   Ending_Date: 2005

   Currentness_Reference: ground condition

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

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

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):

      • Point (907)

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

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.01. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.01. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Latin America & Canada Mineral Industries

   A mineral facility can consist of any number of the following: mines, gas/oil blocks or fields, processing plants, refineries, or smelters of a mineral or other commodity referenced in the USGS Minerals Yearbooks (Source: USGS Minerals Information Team)

   Position

   Unique identifying number corresponding to label on map published as Open-File Report 2006-1375. Also used in notes field as an identifier for other operations when capacities are combined. (Source: Open-File Report 2006-1375, online at <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1375/>)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	907
   Units:	None

   Year

   The year for which the plant capacity and activity status is valid (Source: USGS Minerals Information Team)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	2003
   Maximum:	2005
   Units:	Year
   Resolution:	1

   Country

   The country in which the mine or processing plant is located (Source: USGS Minerals Information Team)

   Formal codeset
   Codeset Name:	FIPS 10-4 "Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions"
   Codeset Source:	<http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/>

   OP_Name

   Name given to a mine or processing plant that distinguishes it from others the company owning the facility may have. It may be the name of the facility given to it by the company or others in the industry or it may be the name of the nearest city or province, or a combination. (Source: Various professional directories)

   No standard set of site names exists.

   Op_Type

   The type of operation -- may be a mine, an oil or gas field, or one of several kinds of processing plants (Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Information Team)

   Value	Definition
   Block and Field	The operation refers to a block consiting of multiple oil or gas fields
   Field	Either natural gas or oil is produced at the site in one or more fields
   Mine	Raw material is removed from one or more mines on the site for processing
   Mine and Plant	The operation contains facilities for removing raw materials and plants for processing
   Mine and Refinery	The operation contains facilities for removing raw materials and refineries to purify commodities
   Mine, Refinery and Smelter	The operation has a mine, refinery and smelter for removing and processing raw materials
   Plant	The operation consists of a processing plant or plants for commodities pertaining to the site
   Plant and Quarry	The operation consists of one or more open pit mines and a processing plant or plants for commodities pertaining to the site
   Plant and Refinery	The site consists of processing and refining facilities
   Quarry	The operation is an open pit mine or group of open pit mines
   Refinery	The operation is considered to be a refinery or several refineries for the commodities pertaining to the site -- for petroleum operations a facility at which crude oil is converted to petroleum products; for metal operations a facility at which metals are purified
   Refinery and Smelter	The operation is both a refinery and smelter or group of refineries and smelters for the commoditiy pertaining to the site
   Salt Pond	In this facility brine is collected in shallow ponds and allowed to evaporate.
   Smelter	The operation is considered to be a smelter or several smelters for the commodity pertaining to the site -- this refers to a processing facility where concentrates of ores are heated to high temperatures and metal is chemically extracted from the concentrate

   DMS_Lat

   Angular distance measured on a meridian north or south from the equator, measured in degrees-minutes-seconds (Source: GEOnet Names Server (GNS))

   Range of values
   Minimum:	54° 06' 52" S
   Maximum:	73° 03' 00" N
   Units:	degrees, minutes, seconds

   DMS_Lon

   Angular distance between the plane of a meridian east or west from the plane of the meridian of Greenwich, measured in degrees-minutes-seconds. (Source: GEOnet Names Server (GNS))

   Range of values
   Minimum:	130° 27' 00" W
   Maximum:	35° 13' 00" W
   Units:	degrees, minutes, seconds

   Latitude

   Angular distance measured on a meridian north or south from the equator, measured in decimal degrees. (Source: Spatial Data Transfer Standard maintained by USGS and available at <http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/sdts/standard.html>)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-54.1144
   Maximum:	73.0500
   Units:	Decimal degrees

   Longitude

   Angular distance between the plane of a meridian east or west from the plane of the meridian of Greenwich, measured in decimal degrees. (Source: Spatial Data Transfer Standard maintained by USGS and available at <http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/sdts/standard.html>)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-130.4500
   Maximum:	-35.2167
   Units:	Decimal degrees

   Commodity

   The material mined or processed at the site (Source: Various professional directories)

   While commodities generally follow those covered in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries available online at <http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/>, in some cases descriptors are added to give information about the raw material, or process used. In some cases multiple commodities are processed at a site; all commodities pertaining to a site are listed in this field and there is no standard set of possible combinations though some combinations are more likely than others to occur.

   Method

   The method of mining used by the operation if it is considered to be a mine (Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Information Team)

   Value	Definition
   --	Mining method is not applicable because the operation is a processing plant, oil or gas field, refinery, or smelter,rather than a mine
   NA	Mining method is not available, but the operation is a surface or underground mine, or some combination of surface and underground
   S	The mine is an open-pit or other surface mine
   S, U	The mine has an open-pit or other surface mine and also has an underground component
   U	The operation is a an underground mine

   Company

   The principal company operating at the site (Source: Various professional directories)

   No standard set of company names exists

   Status

   An indicator of whether an operation was producing during the year listed (Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Information Team)

   Value	Definition
   Active	The operation was producing during the year listed
   Inactive	The operation was not producing during the year listed
   Planned	In 2005, there was indication that the facilitiy would open in 2007
   Under Construction	The operation was under construction during the year listed

   Capacity

   The amount it is possible to produce at the facility (Source: Various professional directories)

   Capacity is numeric however in some records descriptors such as material being measured were added; some records may have capacities for different commodities. Capacities in different records can not be directly compared because units of measurement vary between records; the units are given in a different field in the record.

   Units

   The unit of measure for the facility capacity attribute of the site. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Information Team)

   Value	Definition
   42-gallon barrels/day	The facility capacity is measured by number of 42-gallon barrels that can be produced per day
   billion cubic meters/yr	The facility capacity is measured in the billions of cubic meters that can be produced per year
   carats/yr	The facility capacity is measured in number of carats of the commodity that can be produced per year
   kg/yr	The facility capacity is measured in number of kilograms of the commodity that can be produced per year
   million 42-gallon barrels/day	The facility capacity is measured in millions of 42-gallon barrels that can be produced per day
   million 42 gallon barrels / yr	The facility capacity is measured in millions of 42 gallon barrels that can be produced per year
   t/day	The facility capacity is measured in metric tons of the commodity that can be produced in a day
   thousand 42-gallon barrels/day	The facility capacity is measured by thousand 42-gallon barrels of the commodity that can be produced per day
   thousand 42-gallon barrels/yr	The facility capacity is measured by thousand 42-gallon barrels of the commodity that can be produced per year
   thousand t/year	The facility capacity is measured in the thousand metric tons of the commodity that can be produced per year
   t/yr	The facility capacity is measured in the number of metric tons of the commodity that can be produced per year

   Notes

   Additional information about the record that users should be aware of -- often refers to combined plant capacities (Source: USGS Minerals Information Team)

   No standard set of notes exists.

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Rachel Bernstein
   • J.M. Eros
   • Meliany Quinatana-Velazquez

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   International Section of the Minerals Information Team of the U.S. Geological Survey

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Yolanda Fong-Sam
   U. S. Geological Survey
   Country specialist
   12201 Sunrise Valley Dr.
   Reston, VA 20192
   

   703-648-7756 (voice)
   yfongs-sam@usgs.gov
   

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of this data set is to present information about the mineral facilities of Latin America and Canada, including their location, ownership or operating company, operating status, and capacity. This data set reflects the mineral operations pertinent to commodities discussed in the International Minerals Yearbook chapters of the USGS.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   GEOnet (source 1 of 6)

   The United States Board on Geographic Names, Unknown, GEOnet Names Server: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, online.

   Online Links:

   • <http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp>

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Contribution:

   The GEOnet Names Server (GNS) provides access to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names' (US BGN) database of foreign geographic feature names. The database is the official repository of foreign place-name decisions approved by the US BGN. Approximately 20,000 of the database's features are updated monthly. This source was used when it was necessary to use a locality as the coordinates rather than the actual site.

   Global Gazeteer Version 2.1 (source 2 of 6)

   Genomics, Falling Rain , Unknown, Global Gazetteer Version 2.1.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.fallingrain.com/world/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Contribution:

   This website contains generalized coordinates for worldwide place names, which were sometimes used as coordinates for operations.

   Google Earth (source 3 of 6)

   Google, 2006, Google Earth: Google, online.

   Online Links:

   • <http://earth.google.com/index.html>

   Type_of_Source_Media: broadband, 3D application

   Source_Contribution:

   This application provides coordinates for worldwide place names, which were sometimes used as coordinates for operations.

   USGS Minerals Yearbook 2005 Volume 3 (source 4 of 6)

   U.S. Geological Survey, 2005, Minerals Yearbook (Volume III. -- Area Reports: International): 2005 Minerals Yearbook Volume 3, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/index.html#pubs>

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Contribution:

   The USGS Minerals Yearbook Volume 3 covers the mineral industries of countries other than the United States.

   USGS Minerals Yearbook 2004 Volume 3 (source 5 of 6)

   U.S. Geological Survey, 2004, Minerals Yearbook (Volume III. -- Area Reports: International): 2004 Minerals Yearbook Volume 3, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/index.html#pubs>

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Contribution:

   The USGS Minerals Yearbook Volume 3 covers the mineral industries of countries other than the United States and was used for the majority of the table because the 2005 volume had not been completed at the time the map was completed.

   USGS Minerals Yearbook 2003 Volume 3 (source 6 of 6)

   U.S. Geological Survey, 2003, Minerals Yearbook (Volume III. -- Area Reports: International): 2003 Minerals Yearbook Volume 3, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/index.html#pubs>

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Contribution:

   The USGS Minerals Yearbook Volume 3 covers the mineral industries of countries other than the United States and wasused if the 2005 or 2004 chapter for a particular country was not available.

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

   Date: 2003 (process 1 of 4)

   USGS Minerals Information Team Country Specialists provided the authors of U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2006-1375 with lists of operations known to be active in the countries of Latin America and Canada based on their research of statistical publications of individual countries, annual reports and press releases of operating companies, and trade journals. Plant capacities were also provided when possible.

   Data sources used in this process:

   • USGS Minerals Yearbook Volume 3

   Date: 2003 (process 2 of 4)

   Using available information such as company name and province or nearest city in which it is located, coordinates were obtained from various sources. Coordinates may be very general, such as a representative point in the province or the nearest city

   Data sources used in this process:

   • Global Gazetteer Version 2.1
   • GEOnet

   Date: 2006 (process 3 of 4)

   Open-File Reort 2006-1375 was created, which is in the form of a map (ArcMap 9.1 map exported to PDF) and an excel spreadsheet.

   Date: 2007 (process 4 of 4)

   The excel spreadsheet with the list of operations was saved as a dbaseIV file. The table was added to ArcMap 9.1 and exported as a shapefile.

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?

   No gurarantee is made as to the accuracy of the attributes. Attributes values represent best-available data from research of sources such as statistical publications of individual countries, annual reports and press releases of operating companies, and trade journals. Coordinates were added by researching the company name and general location; in some cases coordinates may be that of the nearest town or province centroid. Due to the sensitivity of some energy commodity data, the quality of these data should be evaluated on a country-by-country basis.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   The coordinates of the operations were obtained at a world scale. In many cases the coordinates are those of nearby cities or province centroids, especially where the site name is that of a city or province. There is no uniform precision.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

   The data were gathered in support of the USGS Minerals Yearbook (Volume III. -- Area Reports: International). An attempt was made to include operations known to be or have been economically significant and therefore included in the Yearbook tables, if not directly mentioned then these operations in some way were ones for which production numbers were calculated to create the Yearbook tables.

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

   No test for logical consistency was performed on this data set. It should be noted that values for the field describing plant capacities are in various units of measure; another field records the unit of measure.

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, however the responsibility of determining fitness for any particular use is that of the user of these data.

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   Yolanda Fong-Sam
   U.S. Geological Survey
   991 National Center
   Reston, VA 20192
   

   703 648-7732 (voice)
   yfong-sam@usgs.gov
   

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

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data, software, or related materials. The use of firm, trade, or brand names in this report is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. The names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

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

     Data format:	map and spreadsheet (version 1.0)
     Network links:	<http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1375/>

     Data format:	shapefile (version 1.0)
     Network links:	<http://mrdata.usgs.gov/>

   • Cost to order the data: None

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 2006
Last Reviewed: 2007

Metadata author:

USGS Minerals Information Team
c/o Robert Callaghan
983 National Center
Reston, VA 20192

703-648-7709 (voice)
rcallaghan@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

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