U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Active-, inactive-, and abandoned-mine information and selected geochemical data for the State of California by Jean L. Ryder* Open-File Report 96-004 Diskette This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. *U.S. Geological Survey, DFC, Box 25046, MS 973, Denver, CO 80225 1996 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 USGS DATABASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 RASS and PLUTO . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 MRDS . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 MILS . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 References Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 i INTRODUCTION The digital data files presented on this disk comprise selected information from United States Geological Survey (USGS) databases related to active and inactive mine locations in the state of California and may be of use to people involved with environmental remediation and contamination work. This report can be downloaded via 'anonymous ftp' from the USGS system named greenwood.cr.usgs.gov (136.177.48.5). The files are located in the directory /pub/open-file-reports/ofr-96-0004. The database manager is: Jean L. Ryder (303) 236-1191 jryder@helios.cr.usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey Box 25046, Mail Stop 973 Denver, CO 80225-0046 Disclaimers: The databases, identified as RASS, PLUTO, MRDS, and MILS have been approved for release and publication by the Director of the USGS. Although these databases have been subjected to rigorous review and are substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use. Although the program LHA.COM ((c)Yoshizaki,1988-91) was used by the USGS to archive these files, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy and operation of the program and related program material, nor shall the fact of distribution constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in connection therewith. USGS DATABASES The National Geochemical Database is a collection of geochemical information maintained by the USGS and consists of five separate databases. The data retrieved here are from the Rock Analysis Storage System (RASS), PLUTO, Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS), and Minerals Availability System (MILS) databases. RASS and PLUTO The data from RASS and PLUTO have been collected over a period of time stretching from present-day back to the 1960's for the RASS data and to the 1930's for the PLUTO data. Scientific methods, instrumentation, and detection levels have changed significantly over this period of time. Thus, researchers are likely to find data from more than one analytical method and reported with more than one lower determination limit for any given element. All of the data are reported in parts per million unless designated as percent. The California RASS data files contain approximately 70 elements listed in alphabetical order. They are selected from two sample source categories, each with a letter designation in the computer filename indicating the following sample sources: B = Mine C = Dump or Prospect Pit The California PLUTO data files contain up to 120 elements listed in alphabetical order. These are taken from five sample source categories, each with a letter designation included in the computer filename to indicate the following: D = Open Pit Mine or Quarry E = Prospect Pit F = Underground Mine G = Mine Dump H = Mill Product (smelter, tailing) Thus, CA-RAS-B.DBF is a file of California data taken from the RASS database which contains information on samples collected from mines, in dBase format. CA-PLU-E.DBF is a file of California data from the PLUTO database containing sample information collected from prospect pits and in dBase format. The various analytical methods used to produce the RASS and PLUTO data are indicated by one or more letters following the element name at the top of each field of data and indicate the following: AA = atomic absorption spectroscopy CO2-% = carbon dioxide, coulometric titration Crbnt C-% = carbonate carbon, coulometric titration Org C-% = organic carbon, calculation of Total-C minus Crbnt-C Total C-% = total carbon, combustion T-H2O-% = total water, sum of moisture plus and moisture minus H2O-P-% = moisture plus, couloumetry H2O-M-% = moisture minus, H2O-P minus dry wt. HG-Inst = mercury, thermally extracted, cold vapor AA ICP = inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy NA = neutron activation S = spectroscopy (see below for details) SI = selective ion electrode Total S-% = combustion XRF = x-ray fluorsence An "S-" primarily indicates semi-quantitative optical emission spectrography or inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. However, other types of spectroscopy such as atomic absorption, have been performed over the last 30 years. The semi-quantitative optical emission spectrography results are reported in concentration intervals of 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 5, 7, or orders of magnitude thereof. On elements with no analytical method designated, information on the method used is no longer available. The precision of the quantitative analytical techniques used permits the use of two significant figures. Due to the formatting used by the computer programs in compiling this data, some of the data reported contain one or more insignificant digits beyond the two significant figures and should be ignored. The RASS and PLUTO data may be reported with a "qualifying" letter attached to the result. These letters indicate the following: N = Not detected at the lower limit of determination. L = Amount detected is less than the lower limit of determination. G = Amount detected is greater than the maximum limit of determination. B = Not analyzed. H = Interference. T = Trace. For information concerning recent analytical methods, instrumentation, laboratory procedures, and quality control, see Arbogast, ed. (1990). MRDS The Mineral Resource Data System data originates not only from USGS studies but also from other federal and state agencies and primarily pertains to mineral commodities. The California dataset on this diskette includes information on 15,072 sites. The data included here comprise 48 out of a total of 59 fields and contain mine name, location, deposit type, mineral age, commodities, products, and tectonics information. Two of the columns list alphabetic or numeric codes which are denoted as follows: 20) PROD: L = Large M = Medium S = Small U = Undetermined Y = Yes, there was production, but amount unknown N = No production 21) STATUS: 1 = Occurrence inactive 2 = Prospect inactive 3 = Prospect active 4 = Little developed producer, inactive 5 = Little developed producer, active 6 = Developed producer, inactive 7 = Developed producer, active 8 = Intermittent producer MILS The Minerals Industry Location Systems database provides information on locations of mines, their operational status, and information about the minerals at those locations. The California MILS data set contains over 29,000 sites with 64 fields of data. The data on this diskette includes only the fields consisting of sequence number, name of deposit, deposit type, current status, location, and point of reference for all 29,096 sites. The column listed as Sequence Number is composed of ten digits attributed as follows: Digits: 1-3 refer to the state code (006 for California) 4-6 refer to the county/province code used by the Department of Commerce 7-10 designate a unique deposit reference number assigned to each deposit within the state and county The Point of Location column lists the point from which the latitude and longitude were determined. For further information on any of these databases, contact the database manager listed at the beginning of this report. Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank Baiba Barr, Mary Berger, and David Buckingham for their invaluable assistance in providing the data retrievals included in this report. References Cited Arbogast, B.F., ed., 1990, Quality assurance manual for the Branch of Geochemistry, U.S. Geological Survey: U.S.Geological Survey Open-File Report, 90-668, 184 p. LHA version 2.12, Copyright (c) Haruyasu Yoshizaki, 1988-91, A High-Performance File-Compression Program, 3/21/91.