Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team

Proto-type Regional Mineral Environmental Assessment

Task Objectives

The primary objective of this task will be to plan and implement a prototype qualitative mineral environmental assessment (MEA) on a selected large region of the Nation for which a quantitative mineral resource assessment (QMRA) has been completed. This GIS-based prototype assessment will:

• test a variety of methodologies,
• identify data gaps,
• evaluate approaches for presenting the results, and
• evaluate the extent to which a more rigorous, less qualitative approach can be applied to the MEA.

Statement of Work

This year the first task will be to select the region for which the prototype assessment will be implemented. Ideally, the prototype target region will include all or portions of at least several states, large watersheds, and ecoregions, and will have a diversity of geologic terraines permissive for a vareity of deposit types. The region must have a previously completed QMRA. In addition, the region should ideally have a substantial amount of information readily available in a digital geospatial form amenable to rapid analysis using GIS and other computer based techniques.

After the prototype region is completed, work will begin on the compilation, integration, and interpretation of available geologic, geochemical (i.e. water, soil, and sediment quality), ecological, and diverse other geospatial data. In cooperation with tasks 1 and 2, the geoenvironmetnal models available for the permissive deposit types and lithologies in the region will be assessed and improved as necessary through the collection of limited new geoenvironmental data. As appropriate, work will begin on the watershed susceptbility and pre-mining baseline maps.

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