USGS MRDS Scraper - Mineral Deposits + Mines + Prospects
USGS MRDS Mineral Resources Scraper
Extract mineral deposits, active mines, past-producer mines, prospects, and occurrences from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) — the canonical US registry of mineral resources, globally referenced by mining analysts, defense planners, and exploration geologists.
What You Get
Each record includes:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
dep_id |
MRDS deposit ID |
name |
Site/deposit name |
country, state_province, county |
Location |
latitude, longitude, elevation_m |
Geocoordinates (WGS84) |
development_status |
Producer / Past Producer / Prospect / Occurrence / Plant |
operation_type |
Surface / Underground / Placer / etc. |
mining_method |
Mining method description |
significance |
USGS significance flag (Y/N) |
commodities_primary |
Primary commodities (semicolon-separated) |
commodities_secondary |
Secondary/tertiary commodities |
commodity_codes |
USGS commodity codes |
deposit_type |
Geological deposit model type |
host_rock |
Host rock formation |
ore_minerals / gangue_minerals |
Minerology |
production_years |
Production year range |
first_produced / last_produced |
Production years |
discovery_year |
Year of discovery |
deposit_size |
USGS size classification (S/M/L/XL) |
grade |
MRDS record quality grade (A–E) |
source_url |
Link to the MRDS record |
update_date |
Last update timestamp |
Input Options
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
commodityFilter |
Commodity to search (e.g. Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Rare-earth elements). Defaults to Lithium. |
country |
Filter by country (e.g. United States) |
stateProvince |
Filter by US state (e.g. Nevada) |
developmentStatus |
Filter by status (all, Producer, Past Producer, Prospect, Occurrence, Plant) |
significantOnly |
When true, return only USGS-flagged significant deposits |
maxItems |
Maximum records to return (default: 15) |
Use Cases
- Mining-equity research: Screen TSX-V / ASX explorers against MRDS for property due-diligence
- Defense critical minerals: Inventory US lithium, cobalt, nickel, REE, and graphite deposits for DPA Title III and USGS Critical Minerals List analysis
- NEPA / permitting: Identify nearby MRDS sites for environmental impact assessments
- ESG due-diligence: Map active and past-producer mines by commodity and location
- Exploration geology: Find deposits by commodity + geology type + development stage
Supported Commodities (examples)
Lithium · Cobalt · Nickel · Copper · Rare-earth elements · Graphite · Gallium · Germanium · Tin · Tungsten · Gold · Silver · Platinum · Antimony · Arsenic · Beryllium
MRDS covers ~700 distinct commodities. Use the exact USGS commodity name as it appears on mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/commodity-codes.html.
Data Source
USGS Mineral Resources Data System — mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds
Public domain data. No authentication required. USGS updates records continuously; update_date reflects the last MRDS edit per deposit.