Top-down targeted network analysis of critical mineral commodities applied to international geochemistry database

Journal of Geochemical Exploration
By: , and 

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Abstract

The global demand for critical mineral commodities is rapidly increasing, making domestic production an important factor in supporting the economy and national security. Large scale, publicly available geochemical databases allow for the application of data informatics methods to interrogate critical mineral commodities data for correlations in deposit formation and distribution, particularly for identifying enrichment of multiple critical mineral commodities at the same deposit. In this study, we applied network analysis to the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI) ore geochemistry (Critical Minerals in Ores, CMiO) database to identify the high concentration (defined as 10× bulk crustal abundance) co-occurrence of different critical mineral commodities across a mineral system hierarchy from deposit environments to individual deposits. Identifying patterns or unique outliers in enrichment in network communities will allow for the location of secondary critical mineral commodity resources from under-utilized deposits. We find trends in the enrichment of critical mineral commodities in network-communities between the elements praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), terbium (Tb), and dysprosium (Dy) across multiple CMiO database deposit environments and groups down to specific deposit types and sites. A separate trend in network community deposition is observed as well between iridium (Ir) and platinum (Pt) in deposit environments, groups, types, and sites. Network analysis focused on critical minerals in magmatic-hydrothermal deposits identified multiple deposit sites from different deposit types within the CMiO database with concentrations of Dy, Nd, Tb, Pr, Ir, and Pt that are at least ten times greater than the crustal average. This approach can be applied to any target element(s) or deposit(s) of interest, allowing broad investigation of co-enriched critical mineral commodities.

Suggested Citation

Moore, E.K., Rosera, J.M., and Lederer, G.W., 2026, Top-down targeted network analysis of critical mineral commodities applied to international geochemistry database: Journal of Geochemical Exploration, v. 285, 108032, 14 p., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2026.108032.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Top-down targeted network analysis of critical mineral commodities applied to international geochemistry database
Series title Journal of Geochemical Exploration
DOI 10.1016/j.gexplo.2026.108032
Volume 285
Year Published 2026
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
Description 108032, 14 p.
Additional publication details