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X-ray diffraction data and estimates of mineral abundances based on Rietveld refinement for mine wastes collected through the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (ver. 2.0, March 2025)

Metadata Updated: November 21, 2025

Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and estimates of mineral abundances determined using Rietveld refinement included in this data release were generated as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI; https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/earth-mri). Earth MRI is a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and state geological surveys and was developed by the USGS to evaluate critical mineral resources in the USA in response to Federal directives to address the shortfall in critical mineral supply for national defense and economic security. Earth MRI involves generating data to support a national critical mineral assessment of subsurface resources, such as mineralized rock, and above ground resources including mine wastes. The mine waste component of Earth MRI involves generating an inventory of mine waste features and the geochemical and mineralogical characterization of mine wastes collected by state geological surveys. The results of the mineralogical characterization of mine waste samples are provided in this data release and include XRD data for each mine waste sample, and the interpretation of those XRD data to estimate mineral abundances using the Rietveld method (Albinati and Willis, 2006). The results of the geochemical characterization of mine wastes are published in the following data release which contains additional sample attribute data: Geochemical data generated by projects funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (https://doi.org/10.5066/P9WHRLXH). These data are being released in support of the ongoing Earth MRI mine waste characterization effort; additional mineralogical data will be released periodically as they are generated. Albinati, A., Willis, B.T.M., 2006, The Rietveld method. In: Prince, E. (eds) International Tables for Crystallography Volume C: Mathematical, physical and chemical tables. International Tables for Crystallography, v. C. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1107/97809553602060000614, accessed July 24, 2024. U.S. Geological Survey, 2021, Geochemical data generated by projects funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (ver. 10.0, June 2024): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9WHRLXH, accessed July 24, 2024.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 21, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 21, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-66d70235d34eef5af66ca5c8
Data Last Modified 2025-04-16T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 03ec4343-11a5-4427-b8aa-a1097e501a18
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 3ce2e4c854895bbd39755a805038bf9a67bd1ebccc08147b7fe7bbf37ed8599f
Source Schema Version 1.1

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