The global economy is unprepared for the unprecedented growing demand for critical minerals. These materials are crucial for the proliferation of technologies and industries that have become vital for social and economic well-being the world over but they are vulnerable to supply disruption and have been of limited economic interest until recently. Given their importance, in December 2019 the geoscience organizations of Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) created the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI) to advance understanding and foster development of critical mineral resources in their respective countries.

This forum is the first release of geoscience products by the CMMI and provides an opportunity to highlight how the CMMI relates to each survey’s critical minerals activities. The forum will primarily focus on filling the knowledge gap on the abundance of critical minerals in ores within a mineral systems framework. To this end, the CMMI compiled modern multielement geochemical data generated by each agency on ore samples, from historical and active mines as well as prospects around the world. To identify relationships between critical minerals, deposit types, deposit environments, and mineral systems, a unified deposit classification scheme was established. This new database will be released to the public at the forum through a new web-based portal. The database enables users to identify individual deposits or deposit types that are potential sources of critical minerals. It also underpins ongoing CMMI efforts to advance critical mineral potential mapping aimed at recognising new opportunities for critical minerals discovery.

View the next presentation in this event.

Please contact Karol Czarnota at karol.czarnota@ga.gov.au with any questions about this event.

Organized by the Geological Survey of Canada, Geoscience Australia, and the United States Geological Survey, and hosted by the American Geosciences Institute

Moderated by Marina Costelloe, Geoscience Australia, Australia

Speakers:

• Thomas Crafford, United States Geological Survey, USA
• Geneviève Marquis, Geological Survey of Canada, Canada
• Andrew Heap, Geoscience Australia, Australia
• Albert Hofstra, United States Geological Survey, USA
• David Huston, Geoscience Australia, Australia
• Christopher Lawley, Geological Survey of Canada, Canada

Event Materials

Visit the CMMI web portal at http://criticalminerals.org/

Presentation slides

Marina Costelloe
Thomas Crafford
Geneviève Marquis
Andrew Heap
Albert Hofstra
David Huston
Christopher Lawley

Download the event flyer