98 



UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



walder mine reportedly contained 1.5 percent bis- 

 muth. Bismuthinite, native bismuth, and their oxi- 

 dation products are reported in uraniferous veins 

 in the White Signal and Blackhawk districts, New 

 Mexico. Bismuthinite and molybdenite are reported 

 in a vein containing brannerite in Mono County, 

 Calif. A brannerite-rich mill product from Climax, 

 Colo., also is reported to contain bismuth, v^^hich 

 occurs in the range of 10-100 ppm in the Climax 

 molybdenum deposit. No bismuth is known to have 

 been recovered from uranium deposits in the United 

 States. 



The known bismuth deposits in Alaska are of 

 minor importance and probably would not yield 

 signiiicant amounts of the metal. Vein deposits from 

 which native bismuth and bismuthinite are reported 

 include those along Charley Creek about 25 miles 

 north of Nome ; on Eva and Moose Creeks about 36 

 miles south of Nenana; on a headwater tributary 

 of Fish Creek, about 15 miles northeast of Fair- 

 banks; and along No Grub and Caribou Creeks in 

 the Salcha River drainage. In these veins, native 

 bismuth and bismuthinite are commonly associated 

 with sulfide minerals, and with graphite and schee- 

 lite, in gold-quartz veins within igneous and (or) 

 metamorphic rocks. The veins are generally less than 

 1 foot thick and commonly are localized by joint or 

 foliation planes (Berg and others, 1964, p. 98; 

 Cobb, 1970). 



RESOURCES 



IDENTIFIED RESOURCES 



Measured, indicated, and inferred reserves of 

 domestic recoverable bismuth associated with cop- 

 per, lead, and zinc ores in Arizona, California, Colo- 

 rado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and 

 Utah are estimated at 26,400,000 pounds; in addi- 

 tion, potential bismuth resources in these ores are 

 estimated at about 10 million pounds (Persse, 1970) . 



There is a potential resource of some 200,000 

 pounds of bismuth in domestic tungsten resources. 

 However, only minor amounts of bismuth have been 

 recovered from tungsten ores because the amount 

 present seldom exceeds the maximum impurity al- 

 lowance. Hence, its value would not offset the cost 

 of recovery. 



HYPOTHETICAL AND SPECULATIVE RESOURCES 



The search for bismuth as an independent metal 

 seems unfeasible because its association with lead, 

 copper, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and zinc will 

 insure a bismuth supply, especially from the West- 

 ern States. 



Hypothetical bismuth resources may exist in 

 smelter products. However, throughout the history 



of lead smelting few analyses have been made spe- 

 cifically for bismuth, and major smelting companies 

 have analyzed only sporadically for bismuth. 

 Analyses of bismuth in coal and coal ash indicate 

 a source of bismuth, but only a few scattered occur- 

 rences have been noted. Data available indicate 

 that certain coals may contain approximately 1 

 pound of bismuth in each 200 tons of coal. No 

 technology has been developed for the removal 

 of bismuth from coal or coal ash, and to our knowl- 

 edge, no systematic studies are underway pertain- 

 ing to the recovery of bismuth from coals. 



PROSPECTING TECHNIQUES 



Prospecting techniques that have had major roles 

 in the discovery of new ore deposits, especially for 

 copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, lead, and zinc, 

 and indirectly for bismuth, are detailed geologic 

 mapping, airborne and ground geophysics, geo- 

 chemical exploration, drilling, and imagery. Prob- 

 ably little or no prospecting for bismuth has been 

 done in the United States. 



PROBLEMS FOR RESEARCH 



The geology of bismuth, where it is known to 

 occur with tungsten, molybdenum, oceanic man- 

 ganese nodules, and coal, should be thoroughly in- 

 vestigated. In addition research needs to be done to 

 ascertain potential bismuth resources in smelter 

 products and coal ash and studies should be carried 

 out on smelter byproducts to identify bismuth 

 source areas in the United States. 



REFERENCES CITED 



Bancel, D. A., 1971, Bismuth: Eng. and Mining Jour., v. 

 172, no. 3, p. 115-116. 



Berg, H. C, Eberlein, G. D., and MacKevett, E. M., Jr., 

 1964, Metallic mineral resources [pt. of] Metallic and 

 nonmetallic mineral resources, in Mineral and water re- 

 sources of Alaska: U.S. Cong., 88th, 2d sess., Senate 

 Comm. Interior and Insular Affairs, Comm. Print, p. 

 95-125. 



Cobb, E. H., 1970, Bismuth occurrences in Alaska: U.S. Geol. 

 Survey Mineral Resources Map MR-53. 



Cook, David, 1972, Bismuth: Eng. and Mining Jour., v. 173, 

 no. 3, p. 99-101. 



Cooper, J. R., 1962, Bismuth in the United States: U.S. Geol. 

 Survey Mineral Resources Map MR-22. 



Goldschmidt, V. M., 1935, Rare elements in coal ashes: Indus. 

 Eng. Chem., v. 27, p. 1100-1102. 



Paone, James, 1970, Bismuth, in Mineral facts and problems: 

 U.S. Bur. Mines Bull. 650, p. 503-513. 



Persse, F. H., 1970, Bismuth in the United States: U.S. 

 Bur. Mines Inf. Circ. 8439, 25 p. 



Rankama, Kalervo, and Sahama, T. G., 1950, Geochemistry: 

 Chicago, Univ. Chicago Press, 912 p. 



U.S. Department of the Interior, 1972, First annual report of 

 the Secretary of the Interior under the Mining and 

 minerals policy act of 1970 (P.L. 91-63)— pt. 2, App.: 

 [470] p. 



