Value of US mineral production dropped slightly in 2013 due to commodity price declines

I reported earlier on the preliminary results of the USGS annual Mineral Commodity Summary report for 2013 production, noting that Arizona retained its #2 position in non-fuel mineral production (ie, not including coal).    The USGS has now released the full report online.   I'm posting their announcement below:




Last year, the estimated value of mineral production in the U.S. was $74.3 billion, a slight decrease from $75.8 billion in 2012. According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s annual Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014 report, the 2013 decrease follows three consecutive years of increases. Net U.S. exports of mineral raw materials and old scrap contributed an additional $15.8 billion to the U.S. economy. 

“To put this in context, the $90.1 billion value of combined mined, exported, and recycled raw materials is more than five times greater than the 2013 combined net revenues of Internet titans: Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo.  This illustrates the fundamental importance of mineral resources to the nation’s economy, technology, and national security,” said Larry Meinert, USGS Mineral Resources Program Coordinator.

Minerals remain fundamental to the U.S. economy, contributing to the real gross domestic product at several levels, including mining, processing, and manufacturing finished products. The U.S. continues to rely on foreign sources for raw and processed mineral materials.

This annual USGS report is the original source of mineral production data for the world. It includes statistics on about 90 mineral commodities essential to the U.S. economy and national security, and addresses events, trends, and issues in the domestic and international minerals industries.

"Decision makers and policy makers in the private and public sectors rely on the Mineral Commodity Summaries and other USGS minerals information publications as unbiased sources of information to make business decisions and national policy," said Michael J. Magyar, Acting Director of the USGS National Minerals Information Center.

Production increased for most industrial mineral commodities mined in the U.S., and prices remained stable. Industrial mineral commodities include cement, clays, crushed stone, phosphate rock, salt, sand and gravel, and soda ash, which are used in industrial applications such as building and road construction and chemical manufacturing.

Production of most metals was relatively unchanged compared with that of 2012, but reduced prices resulted in an overall reduction in the value of metals produced. Domestically produced metals include copper, gold, iron, molybdenum, and zinc, which are used in a wide variety of products including consumer goods, electronic devices, industrial equipment, and transportation systems.

Domestic raw materials and domestically recycled materials were used to process mineral materials worth $665 billion. These mineral materials, including aluminum, brick, copper, fertilizers, and steel, and net imports of processed materials (worth about $24 billion) were, in turn, consumed by downstream industries with a value added of an estimated $2.4 trillion in 2013.

The construction industry began to show signs of improvement in 2012, and those trends continued in 2013, with increased production and consumption of cement, construction sand and gravel, crushed stone, and gypsum, mineral commodities that are used almost exclusively in construction.

Mine production of 14 mineral commodities was worth more than $1 billion each in the U.S. in 2013. These were, in decreasing order of value, crushed stone, gold, copper, cement, construction sand and gravel, iron ore (shipped), molybdenum concentrates, phosphate rock, industrial sand and gravel, lime, soda ash, salt, zinc, and clays (all types).
In 2013, 12 states each produced more than $2 billion worth of nonfuel mineral commodities. These states were, in descending order of value—Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Alaska, Utah, California, Wyoming, Missouri, Michigan, and Colorado. The mineral production of these states accounted for 64% of the U.S. total output value.

Government agencies and the industrial and financial sectors use data from this and other USGS minerals reports to prepare legislation and key economic reports and to evaluate national defense mineral requirements.  USGS produces more detailed and updated data throughout the year in the USGS Minerals Yearbook and Mineral Industry Surveys.
The USGS Mineral Resources Program delivers unbiased science and information to understand mineral resource potential, production, consumption, and their interaction with the environment. The USGS National Minerals Information Center collects, analyzes, and disseminates current information on the supply of and the demand for minerals and materials in the U.S. and about 180 other countries.

The USGS report "Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014" is available online.

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"Mining and You" series offers views on geology, history, politics

Tucson-based geologist has been publishing a series of articles about the geology, history, and politics of mining in Arizona, at both the Tucson Citizen and more recently, the Arizona Daily Independent.  [Right, Morenci copper mine.  Credit, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold]

Here's a sampling of his recent articles:

History of the Florence Copper Deposit
http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2014/03/05/history-of-the-florence-copper-deposit/

Responsible Development of Our Domestic Mineral Resources Crucial to Meeting 21st Century Challenges
http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2014/02/19/responsible-development-of-our-domestic-mineral-resources-crucial-to-meeting-21st-century-challenges/

Update: The following articles were originally posted at the Tucson Citizen, but they have now dropped their citizen bloggers.  All of David's posts from there are now available at 

http://www.geomineinfo.com/archived_articles.html

• Rosemont Copper's Actions Speak Louder than the Words of its Opponents
• 60th anniversary of the Tucson gem and mineral show
• Arizonans are looking forward to Rosemont Copper's approval
• Supergene Enrichment
• Mining and You - All Jobs are Important
• What is a porphyry copper deposit?

Public hearing on silver exploration project near Patagonia

The Coronado National Forest has scheduled a public hearing on the draft Environmental Assessment on a proposal by Wildcat Silver to drill exploration core holes looking for silver mineralization at its Hermosa project, about 6 miles southeast of the town of Patagonia, in Santa Cruz County in southern Arizona.  [Right, location map, courtesy of Wildcat Silver]

This EA is not about constructing a mine. It is only about permitting exploratory drilling.

The Forest Service says the total proposed disturbance from all exploration activities is estimated to be 13.9 acres.   Wildcat Silver says some of what is counted as disturbance includes lands already disturbed as existing roads.

An informational public meeting will be held on Monday March 24, 2014 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Patagonia High School Cafeteria, 200 Naugle Ave, Patagonia, AZ.  On its web site, the Forest Service announced that the "purpose of the meeting will be to provide an update on the proposed project, a summary of the draft analysis, instructions on how to comment on the Draft EA, and a summary of the analysis process.  A short question and answer session and an open house will follow.  Coronado personnel will be available to answer questions.  Comments will not be solicited at the meeting."

However, on Friday, Wildcat Silver announced at the Arizona Mining Alliance luncheon that the Forest Service was now making the event an "open microphone" format, with a first-come, first-to-be-heard agenda.   

The question starting to be heard is whether the region's mining opponents will shift their focus to the Hermosa project now that the Rosemont copper project increasingly appears to be on the final path to approval.


The Draft EA is available on-line on the project website at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=41158.

New earth fissure map released for North Sulfur Springs Valley, Cochise County, Arizona

The latest in our series of earth fissure maps has been released for the North Sulfur Springs Valley study area in Cochise County in southern Arizona.  The map is available for free viewing and download at our online document repository - http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1562/dm-ef-26_fissuremap.pdf, and the fissures are viewable at the online interactive statewide map viewer of all earth fissures  - http://services.azgs.az.gov/OnlineMaps/EarthFissureViewer/.    [Right, index map showing fissure areas outlined in red, superimposed over basin subsidence map from ADWR]

This is one of a series of earth fissure maps prepared by the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) in accordance with Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 27-152.01(3). AZGS collected location information from previously conducted earth fissure studies, reviewed available remote-sensing aerial and satellite imagery, and conducted surface site investigations throughout the study area. A reasonable effort was made to identify all earth fissures in the study area. Nonetheless, some fissures may remain unmapped as a result of one or more of the following: 1) Existing fissures may have been masked by construction or agricultural activities. 2) Incipient fissures may lack clear surface expression. 3) The surface expression of fissures changes constantly as new earth fissures develop and old earth fissures fill in. A blank area on the map does not guarantee earth fissures are not present. However, blank areas within the study area boundary have been investigated, and no surface evidence of fissures was found as of the date of map publication. Determining the presence or absence of a fissure at any specific site may require additional mapping and/or geotechnical analysis. 4) Some earth fissures mapped in this study area were previously referred to as "combination earth fissure-desiccation cracks" (Harris, 2004). Based on similar appearance, morphology, and depth of surface crack to nearby known earth fissures, these features are depicted here as earth fissures. Other shallow polygonal surface crack networks within the study area were interpreted to be giant desiccation cracks and are not individually depicted on this map. However, zones of desiccation cracks are outlined.


Ref: Arizona Geological Survey, 2014, Earth Fissure Map of the North Sulphur Springs Valley Study Area, Cochise County, Arizona. Arizona Geological Survey Digital Map Series - Earth Fissure Map 26 (DM-EF-26), map scale 1:24,000.

[The report description is taken from the AZGS Document Repository]

Arizona jumps 8 places in industry's world ranking of places to mine

The annual Survey of Mining Companies for 2013 conducted by the Fraser Institute, ranks Arizona 20th out of 112 jurisdictions worldwide, as a place to mine, based on perceptions by mining executives.  In the previous survey, Arizona ranked 28th out of 96 jurisdictions (countries, states, and provinces).    Wyoming (#5), Nevada (#8), Minnesota (#15), Utah (#16), and Michigan (#17) were the US states ranked higher than Arizona.  Arizona pulled ahead of Alaska (#22) in 2013.   Arizona's overall score rose dramatically from 76.2 from 64.2.

Arizona's attractiveness based on our geology, rose to 25th in the world, up from a ranking of 29th-31st during the past 5 reviews. Arizona was ranked 27th in quality of its geologic database.

Arizona ranked 22nd in Investment Attractiveness, which is a combination of geologic attractiveness and a composite index that "measures the effects of government policy on attitudes toward exploration investment."

According to the public announcement, "Since 1997, the Fraser Institute has conducted an annual survey of mining and exploration companies to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulation affect exploration investment. Survey results now represent the opinions of executives and exploration managers in mining and mining consulting companies operating around the world. The survey includes data on 112 jurisdictions worldwide, on every continent except Antarctica, including sub-national jurisdictions in Canada, Australia, the United States, and Argentina."




There is a tremendous amount to absorb from the 134 page report which I hope to cover in a subsequent post.

New Coalition to Support Federal Mineral Science and Information Activities

The American Geosciences Institute advises that fifteen organizations have formed the new Mineral Science and Information Coalition (MSIC) to advocate for reinvigorated minerals science and information functions in the federal government. Reliable supplies of mineral resources underpin the U.S. economy and national security. To maintain robust supply chains of critical mineral materials and make well-informed land-use decisions, the U.S. government and industry must have accurate, timely information on mineral resources and on the domestic and global flow of minerals and mineral materials.

Over the past decade federal programs in minerals science, research, information, data collection and analysis have been severely weakened. Funding for the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Resources Program has decreased by 30 percent in constant dollar terms during this time. The Coalition asks Congress and the administration to increase investment in and support for federal minerals research, information gathering, analysis, and forecasting to sustain economic prosperity and ensure national security.

 

Current members of the Minerals Science and Information Coalition include the Aluminum Association, American Exploration & Mining Association, American Geosciences Institute, Associated Equipment Distributors, Association of American State Geologists, Geological Society of America, Industrial Minerals Association – North America, Interstate Mining Compact Commission, Materials Research Society, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, National Mining Association, National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, Portland Cement Association, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., and the Society of Economic Geologists. Other groups are in the process of joining the Coalition.

The Minerals Sciences and Information Coalition (MSIC) consists of trade associations, professional societies, scientists, engineers, and groups representing the extractive industries; geoscience, physical, chemical, and material science professionals; processors, manufacturers, and other mineral and material supply-chain users; state government; and other consumers of federal minerals science and information.

For more information or to get involved with the Mineral Sciences and Information Coalition please contact Maeve Boland (mboland@agiweb.org) or John Hayden (hayden@smenet.org). 

[reprinted from the AGI announcement]