The U.S.–Mexico borderlands, spanning Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, make up one of the world’s most important copper regions. Alongside copper, these porphyry systems also contain a wide range of critical minerals such as gallium, indium, cobalt, tellurium, tungsten, and platinum-group elements—materials essential for clean energy, electronics, and advanced technologies.
Despite their importance, the distribution of these critical minerals is still poorly understood. Existing geochemical data are incomplete, inconsistent, and vary in quality, making it difficult to evaluate the full potential of these mineral systems. A clearer, more systematic picture is needed to guide future research and resource assessments. This project aims to fill that gap by compiling past data, collecting new samples, and applying modern analytical techniques to create the first standardized geochemical database of the region. The results will provide a better understanding of where critical minerals occur in porphyry copper systems and help identify areas with the greatest potential for future exploration and development.
Sponsored by: USGS Earth MRI (Award number: G23AC00054)
ERL personnel: Hervé Rezeau
Collaborators: Carson Richardson (Lead; Arizona Geological Survey), Victor Garcia (Arizona Geological Survey), Virginia T. McLemore (New Mexico Tech), Nels Iverson (New Mexico Tech)