Information News

Worldwide Mineral Resources Databases Available on CD

Two large databases have recently been placed into a single product useful for assessing mineral resources, for land-use planning, and for locating abandoned mine lands. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS) and the former U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System (MAS) are both mineral resources databases, but they contain different kinds of information on mineral deposits worldwide.

The MRDS database contains descriptions of the location, minerals, and geology of about 110,000 mineral deposits. MAS includes location, mining methods, costs, and feasibility information for mineral deposits. It also provides information on mill and smelter sites, waste dumps, tailings piles, and fossil fuel sites for a total of about 220,000 records.

Besides the mineral data, 20 layers of other data are included on the CD for North America. The disc’s LandView III graphics package, developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, allows users to display the results of a query on a map and has some on-screen GIS capability.

Nearly 500 million bytes of data are contained on two CDs, one for North America including the Caribbean islands, and the other for the rest of the world. The CD requires Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT. A version compatible with Mac is planned.

The CD (DDS-52) is available for US$42 plus US$5 shipping and can be ordered from USGS Information Services, Box 25286, Denver, CO, 80225, USA; phone 703-648-5920; fax 303-202-4693; e-mail ask@usgs.gov.