Title: Titanium Mineral Resources in Heavy-Mineral Sands in the Atlantic
Coastal Plain of the Southeastern United States

By Bradley S. Van Gosen and Karl J. Ellefsen

2018

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5045

ScienceBase data release available at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7J38R16

ABSTRACT:

This study examined titanium distribution in the Atlantic Coastal
Plain of the southeastern United States; the titanium is found in
heavy-mineral sands that include the minerals ilmenite (Fe2+TiO3),
rutile (TiO2), or leucoxene (an alteration product of ilmenite).
Deposits of heavy-mineral sands in ancient and modern coastal plains
are a significant feedstock source for the titanium dioxide pigments
industry. Currently, two heavy-mineral sands mining and processing
operations are active in the southeast United States producing
concentrates of ilmenite-leucoxene, rutile, and zircon. The results
of this study indicate the potential for similar deposits in many
areas of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

This study used the titanium analyses of 3,457 stream sediment samples
that were analyzed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National
Geochemical Survey program. This data set was analyzed by an integrated
spatial modeling technique known as Bayesian hierarchical modeling to
map the regional-scale, spatial distribution of titanium concentrations.
In particular, clusters of anomalous concentrations of titanium occur:
(1) along the Fall Zone, from Virginia to Alabama, where metamorphic
and igneous rocks of the Piedmont region contact younger sediments of
the Coastal Plain; (2) a paleovalley near the South Carolina and North
Carolina border; (3) the upper and middle coastal plain of North
Carolina; (4) the majority of the coastal plain of Virginia; and
(5) barrier islands and stretches of the modern shoreline from South
Carolina to northeast Florida. The areas mapped by this study could
help mining companies delimit areas for exploration.

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This database, identified as SIR 2018-5045, has been approved for release 
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REPORT FILES:
The pamphlet and readme files for this report are located at
and can be downloaded via the Web from the U.S. Geological Survey
publications website at https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20185045

List of files:
sir20185045.pdf
sir20185045_ReadMe.txt

HOW TO OBTAIN THE DIGITAL PAMPHLET FILES:
The digital files constituting this report
can be obtained via the Internet from the U.S. Geological Survey
publications website. Go to the web page at

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20185045/ and follow the directions
to download the files.

The main product is a Portable Document Format (.pdf) pamphlet,
which requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing. Acrobat software
runs on a variety of systems, and is available for download
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Suggested citation:
Van Gosen, B.S, and Ellefsen, K.J., 2018, Titanium mineral resources
in heavy-mineral sands in the Atlantic coastal plain of the
southeastern United States: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific
Investigations Report 2018–5045, 32 p.,
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20185045.

SCIENCEBASE DATA RELEASE FILES
The GIS database (data release) for this report is located at and
can be downloaded via the Web from ScienceBase at
https://doi.org/10.5066/F7J38R16 and follow the directions to
download the files.

List of files:
TitaniumConcentrations.zip
     TitaniumConcentrations
           TitaniumConcentrations.shp (.cpg/.dbf/.prj/.sbn/.sbx/.shx/.shp.xml)
     Conc.csv
     TitaniumConcentrations.xml

Data release suggested citation:
Ellefsen, K.J., 2017, Titanium concentrations in stream
sediments from the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S. (1975-1999):
U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7J38R16.