The new agreements funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support critical mineral mapping and the creation of a national mine waste inventory
RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey has invested more than $2 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in cooperative agreements with 14 states to study the potential for critical mineral resources in mine waste. This funding will allow the USGS and these states to better map the locations of mine waste and measure the potential for critical minerals that might exist in that mine waste.
“These agreements are allowing us and the states to take a second look at places that were once known for their mineral production to see if there might yet be some new critical mineral potential, just waiting to be found,” said Darcy McPhee, program manager for the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI), which provided the funding for the agreements.