U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2010–3109

November 2010

Historical Files from Federal Government Mineral 

Exploration-Assistance Programs, 1950 to 1974

http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/

 ongress enacted the Defense

 Production Act in 1950 to provide 

funding and support for the exploration and development of critical 

mineral resources. From 1950 to 

1974, three Department of the Interior 

agencies carried out this mission. 

Contracts with mine owners provided 

financial assistance for mineral exploration on a joint-participation basis. 

These contracts are documented 

in more than 5,000 “dockets” now 

archived online by the U.S. Geological 

Survey. This archive provides access 

to unique and difficult to recreate 

information, such as drill logs, assay 

results, and underground geologic 

maps, that is invaluable to land and 

resource management organizations 

and the minerals industry.

C 

History of the Programs

In 1950, Congress enacted the 

Defense Production Act, which authorized the President to make provisions 

for the encouragement of exploration, 

development, and mining of critical 

and strategic minerals, metals, and 

materials. The President delegated 

his authority to the Department of the 

Interior, among other agencies, and the 

Secretary of the Interior established 

the Defense Minerals Administration (DMA). The DMA provided U.S. 

Government support for exploration 

of unknown or undeveloped mineral deposits. To this end, the DMA 

established a program that would 

provide funds for projects that sought 

or developed sources of strategic or 

critical metals and minerals. When the 

DMA ended in November 1951, the 

Department of the Interior formed the 

Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA) and continued the 

program until June 1958. In August 

of that year, Congress authorized the 

Secretary of the Interior to provide 

financial assistance that would promote exploration for domestic mineral 

reserves, and the Secretary formed 

the Office of Minerals Exploration 

(OME). In 1965, OME was transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS), where it remained until Congress canceled funding in 1974. From 

1950 to 1974, contracts between mine 

owners and these agencies provided 

financial assistance for exploration 

on a joint-participation basis. These 

contracts are documented in more than 

5,000 property files (called “dockets”) 

generated by the DMA, DMEA, and 

OME exploration-assistance programs.

History of the Files

A master set of dockets was 

stored at Suitland, Maryland, and then 

transferred to the Spokane, Washington, office of the USGS in 1993. Files 

previously held at the USGS National 

Center at Reston, Virginia, and those 

formerly held at USGS field offices 

in Denver, Colorado, Menlo Park, 

California, and Knoxville, Tennessee, 

were also transferred to Spokane. A 

digital index to these files was created 

in 1997, and the USGS began to provide public access to the paper copies 

of dockets. Original docket material 

is composed of vintage 1950–70 era 

A new U.S. Geological Survey Web site (http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/) provides public 

access to files or “dockets” for Federally supported critical mineral exploration conducted form 

from 1950 to 1974. This map shows the number of dockets per county in the United States. The 

majority of site locations are in one of the 11 Western States.
paper, carbon paper copies, mimeograph copies, blueline copies of maps, 

linen or mylar maps, and other fragile 

and sometimes poor quality media. 

These types of materials deteriorate 

over time as a result of normal aging, 

handling, and being duplicated. An 

effort to preserve the data began in 

2009, and the entire collection of 

dockets was electronically scanned. 

The scanning process used optical 

character recognition (OCR) when 

possible, and files were converted into 

Portable Document Format (.pdf) files, 

which require Adobe Acrobat Reader 

for viewing. In 2010, the scans were 

placed online (http://minerals.usgs.

gov/dockets/index.htm) and are available to download free of charge. 

Docket Contents

The first item in most dockets 

is a letter from an applicant requesting Federal Government assistance in 

exploring for minerals. The program 

application contains information concerning the property’s location, mineral commodity (limited commodities 

were acceptable under the different 

Programs; see the Web site for a complete list of commodities by program), 

and funds requested. The next item is 

often a site evaluation, including recommendations, done by USGS or U.S. 

Bureau of Mines geologists. Additional reports might detail the ongoing 

status of the application, specifics of 

any financial contract awarded, results 

of exploration, production summaries, 

financial repayment schedules, interim 

evaluations, and contract completion 

data. The file size of a scanned docket 

is determined by the amount of information contained in the original paper 

docket and how many (if any) oversized maps are included in the scan.

Area of Coverage

The dockets reflect program activities carried out in 44 States. No applications were submitted for the States of 

Delaware, Indiana, Nebraska, North 

Dakota, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Published reports containing indexes for the 

entire collection and the four northwest 

States of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and 

Washington, are available online. The 

reports listed below contain property 

location and commodity information, as 

well as information about the Programs:

• All dockets—http://pubs.usgs.

gov/of/2003/of03-94/

• Idaho—http://pubs.usgs.gov/

of/1997/ofr97439/

• Montana—http://pubs.usgs.gov/

of/1996/of96501/

• Oregon—http://pubs.usgs.gov/

of/1998/of98464/

• Washington—http://pubs.usgs.

gov/of/1998/of98232/

Scans of Dockets are Available 

Online

Scanning resolution ranges from 600 

to 1,200 dots per inch (dpi) depending 

on original document quality. Oversized 

maps were scanned at higher resolutions. Overall almost all documents 

are clear and legible. Scans include all 

docket material, including hand written 

notes and oversized maps that may have 

been hand drawn and colored. Using the 

“docket links” item in the menu bar at the 

top of http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/

index.htm provides quick access to tables 

containing links to the .pdf scans. Note 

the file size next to the property name. To 

download a scan simply select the link 

in the property name column. Download 

times for large files will vary depending 

on Internet connection speed, network 

traffic, and computer processor speed. 

The file size of the scanned dockets varies from less than 1 megabyte to nearly 

500 megabytes, based on the amount of 

information the original docket contains 

and how many (if any) oversized maps 

are included in the scan. Under “Docket 

links” the “All by number” and “All by 

State” pages are large and will take some 

time to load. All docket numbers are 

unique, regardless of which Government 

program they were developed under.

To view all dockets by State:

From the “Docket links” menu 

select “All by number” or “All by 

State.” A new Web page will open with a 

table showing an ordered list of all dockets by number (ascending order) or by 

State (alphabetical). The table contains 

hot links to the docket .pdf scans and 

lists the file sizes. 

To view the dockets by agency:

From the “Docket links” menu 

select “All DMA,” “All DMEA,” or “All 

OME.” A new Web page will open with a 

table showing an ordered list of all dockets for that program. The table contains 

hot links to the docket .pdf scans and lists 

the file sizes. 

To view dockets by individual Western 

State (sorted by County):

From the “Docket links” menu 

select “Arizona,” “California,” “Colorado,” “Idaho,” “Montana,” “New 

Mexico,” “Nevada,” “Oregon,” “Utah,” 

“Washington,” or “Wyoming.” A new 

Web page will open containing a table 

showing an ordered list of all dockets 

for that State, sorted by county. The 

table contains links to the docket .pdf 

scans and lists the file size. Files with no 

recorded State or county information can 

be viewed by selecting “No State ID.”

The more than 5,000 historical 

minerals exploration-assistance dockets now archived online by the USGS 

provide access to unique or difficult to 

recreate data that is invaluable to land 

and resource management organizations 

and the minerals industry. Meeting the 

challenge of supplying America’s needs 

for essential minerals requires accurate 

and unbiased scientific data. The ongoing work of scientists with the USGS 

Mineral Resources Program provides 

information crucial to the creation of 

sound policies that will ensure future 

supplies of mineral resources.

For more information contact:

David Frank

U.S. Geological Survey

904 W. Riverside Ave., 

Room 202

Spokane, WA 99201

(509) 368-3107

dfrank@usgs.gov

http://minerals.usgs.gov/

 This Fact Sheet and any updates 

 to it are available online at 

 http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2010/3109/

David G. Frank

Edited by James W. Hendley II

Graphic design by Judy Weathers