Discover and download a USGS mineral-resource dataset (e.g., SaMiRA, USMIN) via the ScienceBase catalog

domain: USGS ScienceBase · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗

Steps

  1. Search data.usgs.gov (ScienceBase) for the target dataset by name, e.g. "BLM LR2000 mining claim authorizations" or "USMIN Mineral Deposit Database."
  2. Open the ScienceBase item page to confirm licensing, spatial extent, and attached data files (shapefiles, CSV, geodatabase).
  3. Use the ScienceBase REST item API (JSON) to programmatically resolve an item ID to its list of downloadable file URLs instead of scraping the HTML page.
  4. Download the attached files directly via their stable ScienceBase file URLs.
  5. Check the item's linked metadata record for field definitions before joining the dataset to other mining data sources.

Known gotchas

Related routes

Query mineral deposit records (MRDS) within a geographic bounding box
USGS MRData API (Mineral Resources Data System) · 5 steps · unrated
search and request landsat scene downloads via the usgs m2m api
m2m.cr.usgs.gov · 5 steps · unrated
Pull annual mineral commodity production/consumption statistics for a specific commodity
USGS National Minerals Information Center (Mineral Commodity Summaries) · 5 steps · unrated

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