Critical minerals in pennsylvanian black shales of the US midcontinent project period 01 10 2023 through 01 09 2026 award purpose the purpose of this project is to collect major and trace elemental…

Critical minerals in pennsylvanian black shales of the US midcontinent project period 01 10 2023 through 01 09 2026 award purpose the purpose of this project is to collect major and trace elemental data on pennsylvanian agedblack shales from the cherokee forest city, illinois, and appalachian (western margin) basins tosupport regional assessments of CM abundance. The justification for this study is to support theus federal government s efforts to identify and assess CM deposits in the united states. Activities to be performed define the sampling methods to be used by all cooperating states (working as a team withall participants to accommodate the unique conditions of each organization).(2) coordinate and monitor all project sample collection.(3) coordinate pxrf methods and use of USGS reference materials.(4) consolidate samples acquired by all participants.(5) contribute high CM samples to the USGS for further geochemical analysis.(6) construct a well documented geochemical database of pxrf data from cooperatingstates. Deliverables and expected outcomes 1) detailed report on CM concentrations from data collected from the metalliferous shales.publications will be submitted in the peer reviewed midcontinent geoscience and gsabulletin.2) comprehensive geodatabase of major element geochemistry derived from pxrf analysisfrom the focus areas in all states. Data will be published in CSV and XLS format via open file reports (ofrs) at each survey. Geospatial data will be served through state GIS portals(e.g., kansas uses kansasgis.ORG). A single project website at KGS will link to all the data.(KGS has numerous examples of these like the hugoton project or any of the ccusprojects).3) samples delivered to USGS for further geochemical ANALYSIS4) esem imagery and EDS qualitative geochemical data. Open file reports from each statelinked through a KGS project level website.5) geological maps with thickness and concentration variations. These maps will be submittedin gems standard digital format as used through the statemap program funded throughthe ncgmp.6) publications. There will be ofrs at each state for data. Journals (internal or external) forscience interpretations. Project website.