- Mineral Resources
    - Online Spatial Data

### Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS)

MRDS is a collection of reports describing metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources throughout the world. Included are deposit name, location, commodity, deposit description, geologic characteristics, production, reserves, resources, and references. It subsumes the original MRDS and MAS/MILS.  MRDS is large, complex, and somewhat problematic. This service provides a subset of the database comprised of those data fields deemed most useful and which most frequently contain some information, but full reports of most records are available as well.

Current status: As of 2011, USGS has ceased systematic updates to MRDS, and is working to create a new database, focused primarily on the conterminous US. For locations outside the United States, MRDS remains the best collection of reports that USGS has available. For locations in Alaska, the Alaska Resource Data File remains the most coherent collection of such reports and is in continuing development.

Resource descriptions here include an indication of the overall quantity and diversity of information they contain.  Many records in this database are simple reports of commodity at some location, but some records provide substantial detail of the geological setting and industrial exploitation of the resource.  To help users find these more thorough records, a map interface and search form are provided that rank results by overall quality, records graded A having more information about more aspects of the resource, records graded D having only summary information about the resource.  Records graded B and C are intermediate between these, and records graded E generally lack bibliographic references.

#### View

Show in a web browser window:

by record quality

by commodity

Show in your GIS using OGC web services:

#### Download

**Download** data for geographic areas you choose

**Search** data using a form

Full text search of MRDS records

Download options depend on the software you want to use

#### Documentation

Metadata:

OutlineQuestions & AnswersPlain textXML

About the database tables and fields

Flattened: 44 most commonly requested fields, multiple values separated by semicolons

Compact fields: site name, status, commodity abbreviations, and a URL for full information

Comprehensive: All tables and fields.

Codes used to specify commodities in the database.

#### Publication

Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS)Mason, G.T. and Arndt, R.E., 1996, Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): USGS Data Series 20, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds20.U.S. Geological Survey mineral databases: MRDS and MAS/MILSMcFaul, E.J., Mason, G.T., Ferguson, W.B., and Lipin, B.R., 2000, U.S. Geological Survey mineral databases; MRDS and MAS/MILS: USGS Data Series 52, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds52.Record quality tables for the Mineral Resources Data SystemSchweitzer, P.N., 2019, Record quality tables for the Mineral Resources Data System: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DYLWMP.

#### Related topics

Economic geologyGeospatial datasetsMap interfacesMineral resourcesWeb map servicesMineral deposit areasMine sitesColumnar textDBFFile geodatabase (Esri)HTML tableKMLOGC WFSOGC WMSPersonal geodatabase (Esri)Shapefile

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