The U.S. Geological Survey has released new maps identifying areas of northern and central Alaska with potential for deposits of rare-earth elements that are becoming commercially valuable because of their use in high-tech products.
The maps were produced at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, which is drafting a regional management plan for an hourglass-shaped, 59-million-acre section of land known as the Central Yukon Planning Area.
The new maps reveal some pockets of land, mostly between the Alaska Range and the Brooks Range, that hold high likelihood of rare-earth elements.
The obscure elements are generally found in certain types of minerals, said study lead author Jamey Jones, an Anchorage-based USGS geologist. For example, phosphate minerals monazite and xeontime hold a variety of rare-earth elements that are used in high-tech gadgets, Jones said.
The new maps are the product of a project being conducted by the USGS and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. That project, the Alaska Strategic and Critical Minerals Evaluation, is creating statewide maps identifying sites with potential for rare-earth elements, Jones said.
Contact Yereth Rosen at yereth@alaskadispatch.com.