Indium deposits in the United States

Dates

Publication Date: 2022-09-12

Citation

Karl, N.A., Gnesda, W.R., Funk, J.A., Mauk, J.L., and Forbush, C.R., 2022, Indium deposits in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P97FRY3M.

Summary

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of the only U.S. sites-including mining districts, mineral occurrences, and mine features-that have reported production and (or) resources of indium (In). This dataset contains the Bingham and West Desert deposits in Utah, and the Chino site in New Mexico. Indium is considered a critical and strategic mineral because of its use in the aerospace, defense, energy, and telecommunications sectors. The primary applications are flat-panel displays, and specialty alloys (Fortier and others, 2018). In 2021, the U.S. was 100 percent net import reliant on indium from China, Canada, Republic of Korea, and France (U.S. Geological Survey, 2022). Indium is most commonly [...]

Summary

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the descriptions of the only U.S. sites-including mining districts, mineral occurrences, and mine features-that have reported production and (or) resources of indium (In). This dataset contains the Bingham and West Desert deposits in Utah, and the Chino site in New Mexico.

Indium is considered a critical and strategic mineral because of its use in the aerospace, defense, energy, and telecommunications sectors. The primary applications are flat-panel displays, and specialty alloys (Fortier and others, 2018). In 2021, the U.S. was 100 percent net import reliant on indium from China, Canada, Republic of Korea, and France (U.S. Geological Survey, 2022).

Indium is most commonly recovered from sphalerite, a zinc-sulfide mineral, wherein the indium occurs in quantities of less than 1 part per million (ppm) to 100 ppm (U.S. Geological Survey, 2022). In the U.S., indium is found in porphyry and skarn deposits. The West Desert deposit in Utah is the only deposit in the U.S. with a modern National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) compliant resource estimate of indium (Dyer and others, 2014).

The entries and descriptions in the database were derived from published papers, reports, data, and internet documents representing a variety of sources, including geologic and exploration studies described in State, Federal, and industry reports. Resources extracted from older sources might not be compliant with current rules and guidelines in minerals industry standards such as NI 43-101. The presence of an indium mineral deposit in this database is not meant to imply that the deposit is currently economic. Rather, these deposits were included to capture the characteristics of the largest indium deposits in the United States. Inclusion of material in the database is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The authors welcome additional published information in order to continually update and refine this dataset.

Dyer, T.L., Tietz, P.G., and Austin, J.B., 2014, Technical report on the West Desert zinc-copper-indium-magnetite project, preliminary economic assessment, Juab County, Utah, prepared for InZinc Mining Ltd. [Filing date March 17, 2014]: Mine Development Associates, 188 p., accessed March 10, 2020, at http://www.sedar.com.

Fortier, S.M., Nassar, N.T., Lederer, G.W., Brainard, J., Gambogi, J., and McCullough, E.A., 2018, Draft critical mineral list-Summary of methodology and background information-U.S. Geological Survey technical input document in response to Secretarial Order No. 3359: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2018-1021, 15 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20181021.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2022, Mineral commodity summaries 2022: U.S. Geological Survey, 202 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/mcs2022.

Contacts

Point of Contact :: Jeffrey L Mauk
Originator :: Nick A Karl, William R Gnesda, Jonathan A Funk, Jeffrey L Mauk, Clayton R Forbush
Metadata Contact :: Carma A San Juan, GS GGGSC DM Team
Data Owner :: Mineral Resources Program
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
SDC Data Owner :: Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
USGS Mission Area :: Energy and Minerals

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USGS_Indium_US_Metadata.xml “Data documentation and instructions” Original FGDC Metadata	View	100.68 KB	application/fgdc+xml
00Readme_Indium.txt “Readme file”		4.41 KB	text/plain
USGS_Indium_US_CSV.zip “Indium data (CSV files and Data Dictionary)”		30.74 KB	application/zip
USGS_Indium_US_Geodatabase.zip “Indium Geodatabase”		296.17 KB	application/zip
USGS_Indium_US_Metadata.zip “Indium Metadata (XML, HTML, TXT)”		93.94 KB	application/zip
USGS_Indium_US_Shapefiles.zip “Indium Shapefiles (and CSV files)”		202.77 KB	application/zip
Indium.png “Indium ingots; Bingham Canyon porphyry copper deposit, Utah.”		1.3 MB	image/png

Extension: USGS_Indium_US_MapService.zip
USGS_Indium_US_MapService.sd “ArcGIS service definition, contains mxd and GIS data.”		1.11 MB

Related External Resources

Type: Web Link

Other products by and additional information on the USGS Mineral Deposit Database Project	https://www.usgs.gov/usmin
USGS Mineral Deposit Database interactive map and downloadable data	https://mrdata.usgs.gov/deposit/
Additional interactive maps and downloadable data: USGS Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data	https://mrdata.usgs.gov/
USGS National Minerals Information Center (NMIC): Indium Statistics and Information	https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/Indium-statistics-and-information
Indium Professional Paper 1802-I By: W.C. Pat Shanks III, Bryn E. Kimball, Amy C. Tolcin, and David E. Guberman	https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802I

Purpose

This dataset was developed as part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) USMIN project to inventory publicly available information on mineral deposits within the United States that have recorded production and (or) resources of critical minerals. In the case of indium, all known sites with contained resources and (or) past production have been included in this dataset. The geospatial data provide location, geology, production, and resource information. In general, the USGS uses this information to delineate permissive tracts for mineral resources (geographic areas in which specific types of mineral deposits may occur), develop assessments of potential undiscovered mineral resources, determine where and how environmental effects of mining may be observed, and understand the natural variability found in different mineral deposit types. The data also support the Federal strategic objective to secure reliable supplies of critical minerals by providing information for geoscience research and mineral exploration to State and Federal agencies, private industry, and the general public.

Indium deposits in the United States

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