U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

icon-dot-gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

icon-https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Airborne Magnetic and Radiometric Survey, Colorado Mineral Belt, Southwest Block, 2023

This data release provides digital flight-line and gridded data for a high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey over the southwestern portion of the Colorado Mineral Belt, southwestern Colorado. The Colorado Mineral Belt is a broad, northeast-southwest trending alignment of historic mining districts that have produced multiple types of commodities, including critical minerals that are vital to the Nation's security and economy. The survey was acquired as part of the UGSS Earth Mapping Resource Initiative (Earth MRI) to improve our understanding of the fundamental geologic framework underpinning the Colorado Mineral Belt. This release covers the southwestern portion of the belt (southwest block), which includes a wide swath from the Gunnison and San Juan mining districts on the northeast to the La Plata mining district on the southwest, including parts of Chaffee, Gunnison, Saguache, Hinsdale, Mineral, Ouray, San Miguel, San Juan, Dolores, Montezuma, and La Plata Counties. Previous reports have identified several critical minerals in this region, including aluminum, antimony, fluorspar, manganese, tungsten, vanadium, and zinc. Data for this survey were acquired by NV5 Geospatial, Inc. and is sub-contractors Precision GeoSurveys, Inc. and EDCON-PRJ, Inc under contract with the USGS. The survey was flown in September and October of 2023 using a helicopter equipped with a magnetometer mounted in a stinger extending from the nose of the aircraft and a gamma-ray spectrometer stowed onboard. The helicopter pilots followed pre-planned flight paths in a grid-like pattern, with north-south lines spaced 200 meters apart and east-west lines spaced 1,000 meters apart. Lines were flown 100 meters above ground as much as possible to maximize detection of gamma-rays and resolve details of the magnetic field. This clearance could be realized in areas of low relief but higher clearances, as much as 200-500 meters, were required over rugged terrain and populated areas for safety reasons. Areas with restricted airspace, such as Wilderness Areas, were avoided. A total of 28,472 linear kilometers of data were collected along the lines, covering a 4,719 square-kilometer irregular area. EDCON-PRJ performed extensive data processing after completion of flying and delivered the final data and report in April 2024.

Get Data and Metadata
Author(s) V. J. S orcid, Patricia G Macqueen orcid, April D Allen orcid
Publication Date 2024-07-24
Beginning Date of Data 2024-04-24
Ending Date of Data 2024-07-01
Data Contact
DOI https://doi.org/10.5066/P1F3EHPN
Citation S, V.J., Macqueen, P.G., and Allen, A.D., 2024, Airborne Magnetic and Radiometric Survey, Colorado Mineral Belt, Southwest Block, 2023: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1F3EHPN.
Metadata Contact
Metadata Date 2024-07-24
Related Publication
Citations of these data No citations of these data are known at this time.
Access public
License http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/
Loading...
Harvest Source: ScienceBase
Harvest Date: 2024-09-03T10:21:07.825Z